


The adventuring dead

by Sugarberry_and_tea



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Blood and Gore, Eventual Found Family, Eventual Relationships, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24667852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugarberry_and_tea/pseuds/Sugarberry_and_tea
Summary: A vaguely walking dead themed au of the adventure zone.  Magnus wakes up in an abandoned hospital, Barry and Lucretia escape a zombie infested Phandolin, Taako and Lup aquire a child.  Merle is slightly competent and Davenport has a camperRating might get bumped up as things progress cuz zombie gore and that kinda stuff.  Tags will be added as we go too.
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Julia Burnsides/Magnus Burnsides, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), just about every canon relation ship is gonna be mentioned eventually
Comments: 17
Kudos: 14





	1. The end of the world (part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> The end of the world comes, Magnus, Merle and Lucretia have a bad time.

The end of the world didn’t come in the ways anyone expected. There were no aliens come to devour all of Faerun and all who lived there. There was warning, reports of people being attacked and bitten in the streets. And they were ignored. People thought it was nothing just some new drug making people act weird or something like that. By the time they realized what was happening it was already too late. Cities fell, countless people died and those who didn’t were under near constant attack by the reanimated corpses of those who did. The world as they knew was gone for good. 

Magnus burnsides of course didn’t know about the end of the world. Around the time the first reports of crazed maniacs biting people in the streets Magnus got into a fight and was sent to the hospital. It was a stupid fight but not one he could have avoided. He came across a group of drunks trying to hurt a stray dog, stumbling around as they attempted to kick the poor thing. Magnus of course couldn’t sit back and watch this happen, so he did what he did best. He rushed in. 

Magnus if course couldn’t have known that one of the drunks was carrying a gun. Or that by trying to save this stray dog he’d end up with a bullet in the shoulder. It didn’t kill him but it sure as hell wasn’t a pleasant experience. If he was honest he didn’t remember much of anything after that. Just a blur of paramedics showing up and being carted on an ambulance and rushed to the hospital and hooked up to machines. 

And there he stayed. Through the end of the world and the rise of the living dead. For nearly 2 weeks he stayed in a coma, he should have been woken up sooner, would have been if all of the nurses hadn’t become dinner for the hungry dead that swarmed the hospital. Lucky for Magnus though the dead were stupid, far too stupid to open the door to his room. And so he stayed safe, uneaten through those 2 weeks, unaware of the horrors waiting for him once he woke up. 

Merle in the other hand was very much awake for the end of the world. He watched as things went to shit in his home of bottle nose cove. He saw the news and saw that a close by city, Phandolin was being converted to a safe haven, and that citizens were being urged to go there, gather in a single place so that the military had an easier time defending them. 

He argued with his ex-wife, Hecuba practically begged her to come with him when he went, he didn’t want to separated from his children. It didn’t take long to convince her, once the first zombie was spotted munching on a neighbors cat in the cove everyone was packing up and leaving. The roads were crowded and packed with people from all over trying to get passage into phandolin. It seems there wasn’t enough room for all the people trying to find sanctuary. 

They were stuck barley moving on that road for hours, bus children fussed and whined about being bored and Hecuba worried that they might not make it into the city. They never did of course. The zombies caught up to the cars, started devouring whoever they could. Merle didn’t thing he’d ever be able to forget those first screams, the first time he heard on of those monsters kill someone. But he was frozen, what could he do? He couldn’t get into the city? Where could he go? 

He snapped out of it once he heard a thunk and the sound of his daughter screaming. Pressed right up against her window was something that looked like it used to be a young elven woman. Her dress was torn and bloodied and her hair matter with blood and gore, her face was tattered, her cheek torn and her jaw exposed through the side of her face. Fresh blood dropped down her chin and she snarled and bit at the window banging with her mangled arms. Her eyes are what stuck with Merle later on, they were so empty, devoid of life. Those green eyes would haunt his dreams for weeks.

He did the only thing he could think to do, he pulled off the road, the elven woman followed but he was able to lose her within a few minutes, he drove for nearly 20 minutes only stopping once he reached an empty clearing. He was vaguely aware of what was going on in the car with him, Mavis was still screaming and Hecuba was sobbing uncontrollably. Mookie was the only one able to talk as he spoke the question that was on everyone’s mind “What do we do now?” 

Lucretia had only lived in Phandolin for about a year, she was fresh out of colledge and working on writing her first books, with little luck. She watched as people poured into the city looking for any place to say, suddenly very glad that she already had an apartment there. She spent her time sit at her desk in front of her window overlooking the street, and she wrote. 

Her journals quickly started to fill up with information and observations about her current predicament. She hadn’t had anything this interesting to write about in a long time. It was one of those days, sitting there just watching that she saw the first signs of danger. A homeless man stumbled down the street, she thought little of it until he lunged at a halfling man, but him in the neck and started digging in. She watched as people scattered and ran and as officers can and put a bullet between the homeless mans eyes. She thought it was over then, and watched In confused horror as they shot the halfling man as well. She watched out the window less after that. 

That incident got her to thinking. Maybe moving everyone into the city was not as good an idea as people had thought. Maybe instead of keeping them all safe in my one spot they’d unknowingly set up an all you can eat humanoid buffet for those undead monsters. Lucretia kept a bag packed by the side her door after that. Just for in case she told herself. She tried to keep it light, easy to run in. A spare set of closes, a first aid kit, and as much non-perishable food as she could fit and of course her journal. There was no way she’d be able to bring them all if she had to run but she’s started a new one after seeing that halfling man get eaten. She couldn’t quite explain why but she felt like she should record everything that happened starting now. 

Not a weeks later the city went to shit and she had to use that bag, she was right they were all sitting ducks in Phandolin, and once people started dying and turning the whole city was overrun. And so Lucretia ran, the streets were filled with people some like her, running and trying to escape, some trying to fight the growing horde of the undead. She cursed herself for not leaving during the day, at night it was so hard to tell the dead from the living. She tried to look only ahead of her ignoring the screaming coming from all around her. She really wished she could help the people she passed as she ran, she saw glimpses of those less lucky than her. A half eaten carcass of what was probably a human girl, a half-elf man sitting in a doorway covered in blood dripping from the bite on his arm, a woman running like she was getting tripped by a zombie on the ground screaming as it sank its teeth into her ankle. But she was so scared, it could’ve been her she though about al of them. It could’ve been her getting eaten, hell she could’ve been one of those zombies had her life gone any differently. 

And so she ran, her lungs burned and her legs felt sore, she cursed herself again for being this out of shape and tried to ignore the tears dripping down her cheeks. She had to keep going, she had to survive. She raised her hands to wipe her eyes and promptly ran smack-dab into someone. 

Or rather something, she didn’t think this thing counted as a someone anymore. It was once a drow man, it must have turned very recently she though as the blood from the bite on its neck was still wet. She’d fallen after running into it and she hurried to scramble backwards and back to her feet. But it was already upon her, snapping its teeth in her face. She instinctively put her hand up, one on each shoulder and tried to keep it off her. ‘Bites spread the disease’ she remembered a news reporter saying once. But it was so heavy and unrelenting and she was so tired, she felt the air from its teeth snapping as it got closer and closer to her face. 

She was going to die, she was sure of it, no one was going to stop to help her, maybe it was karma for her not stopping to help anyone. This thing was going to eat her face, it was going to hurt, it was going to hurt so bad. And then she’d die, she’d die and she’d become one of them. She turned away and squeezed her eyes shut, tired to call forth the last of her energy and push it off with no avail. She didn’t want to give up, but what could she do? 

She felt her arms start to give out, and really wished this zombie wasn’t right in front of her face, getting her face eaten seemed like one of the worst ways to go out. She opened her eyes, just in time to see a foot collide with the face of the zombie on top of her. It fell to the side and she was able to push it off and to her feet. Before she could even turn to face the person who’d saved her, she felt her arm get grabbed and she was running again.


	2. End of the world part 2 electric boogaloo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this time Barry, the Twins and Davenport have a bad time also everyone’s favorite boy detective gets introduced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully next chapter we’re gonna get to see all the characters interact (and see Magnus wake up and be super confused which should be fun) but for right now I just gotta work to set up this fic.

Barry didn’t know what had possessed him to save the young woman being attacked by the zombie drow. He was not a brave man, he was not a hero. But somehow for whatever reason when he looked over and saw her he knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he just left her there to be eaten. Maybe it was the look on her face, the way she looked as if she’d already given up. It didn’t matter, all that did matter was the fact that Barry had just punted a zombie in the face and then dragged this woman off. He should probably say something he thought to himself, but what was there to say ‘yeah no problem, I Yeet zombies all the time’. And besides Barry was built for comfort more than speed, he didn’t even think he could speak if he knew what to say. And so they just ran. 

He realized now that he didn’t need to keep holding her arm, she was up and anyways it’s not like he was taking her anywhere or like there was anywhere for them to go. But he didn’t let go, and she didn’t pull away. They just kept running, passing scenes of carnage. There were less people running around now, he didn’t want to dwell on that thought though, better to hope they’d all gotten away then think about how many of them probably ended up dead or rather undead. 

Barry was hopelessly lost now though he hoped the woman he saved knew where they were, or at least how to get out of the city. But as they rounded a corner and skidded to a stop he realized she probably didn’t either. But as he coughed and wheezed those thoughts were pushed out of his mind. Yeah he was a lot more out of shape than he thought. Luckily the alley they were in was empty of zombies and people alike save for them. The two of them stood there gasping for breath, neither able to talk just yet. 

“Thanks for that by the way” Barry looked up and made eye contact with the woman “I thought was gonna die, oh god I-I don’t even wanna think about how close I got to having my face chewed off” she let out a shaky laugh “my name is Lucretia” he stared at her stupidly, he quite literally couldn’t find the words to speak. Seconds went by and the silence became awkward. The sounds from outside the alley seemed a world away, the sounds of screams and snarls and the sound of eating. Eventually Barry got his wits about him and was able to speak again.

“I’m uhhhhhh Barry Blue-jeans?” It came out as a question, he didn’t know why nothing made sense anymore. “And I mean I couldn’t just let you die, I had to do something...does that make sense, oh god nothing makes sense in my brain right now it’s just...you know all static” Lucretia nodded. 

“I hear you, it feels like a fever dream” a suspiciously loud scream sounded from nearby “but I guess that would be wishful thinking wouldn’t it, please tell me you know where we are I want out of this city so bad” Barry’s heart sank, she didn’t know where they were either, oh gods they were so screwed. 

“I uh actually don’t, I was really wishing you did...” Lucretia’s frowned, her expression mirroring his.

“Well looks like we’re figuring things out together, you think you’ll be able to keep running” 

“What other choice do I have? Sorry that sounded harsh, yeah I can let’s go” 

And so they did, they rounded the corner and were brought face to face with the source of the earlier scream, a figure was being eaten by a pack of at least 6 of the zombies. “Oh fuck” was all Barry could get out before they got up and started shambling after him and Lucretia. 

“RUN” she screamed as she grabbed his hand and dragged him forward. How ironic not 15 minutes before he’d been the one the one dragging her along. And like that hand in hand they ran, avoiding zombies and looking for a way out.   
—————————————————————————————

The moment Taako and Lup heard about the zombie disease they started planning, bags were packed and loaded into their shitty little car. They gathered as much food, water and supplies as they could and packed them into the car as well. They were set. And once they heard news that Phandolin was becoming a safe haven they hopped in the car and started the couple hour drive. 

Things seems unreal on the drive over, the roads were packed with others likely with the same idea as them, get to safety. They passed a car wreck along the way and saw the mangled corpse in the passenger seat reach towards the cars on the road. It was surreal, they hadn’t seen any of the zombies in person before, just clips on the news and whatever people shared on the internet. All that was really known about the disease was that it killed all who were infected and brought them back as an undead entity, most had taken to calling them zombies like the creatures from legends and folklore. The infected were seemingly always hungry and only ate the living and one bite from them was enough to kill you and turn you into one of them. There was no cure yet, no one knew if there’d ever be one.

As they drove on the roads got more and more packed, traffic coming to a near standstill in some places. Then Lup had a bright idea, the next side road they came to they pulled off, it was completely empty. (Which might have been due to the fact that the road was blocked off but they “missed” the roadblock. Sue them, they were sure as hell not gonna wait around on that packed road, it was an accident waiting to happen) 

And they drove, uninterrupted for all of 20 minutes until their car conveniently broke down. Just their shitty luck. Lup tried and tried fruitlessly to get it running again to no avail. They were screwed. They didn’t know what to do Lup wanted to grab what they could carry and keep going, but Taako was up for the plan of waiting for someone to drive by so they could beg to hitchhike. 

“Koko we’re on a blocked off road. Who the fuck is gonna drive by us” 

“Someone smart like us, we can’t be the only ones who tried to avoid the main road. Besides we’re still an hours drive away from Phandolin and it’s getting dark. No way we’ll make it there before the sun sets” he pouted, one of them had to give in eventually, and he knew it would likely end up being him. 

“I don’t like it any more than you Ko, but we need to stay safe, to keep each other safe. We can’t do that if we’re stuck here in the middle of nowhere” 

“Ok fine, you win. But one condition, we sleep in the car tonight. You saw that thing on the road there’s bound to be more of them wandering around out here. We’ll be safer walking when it’s light out” Lup nodded. 

“Then it’s settled” she said “and dibs on the passenger side” Taako turned face her a look of mock horror on his face.

“No fair!! I drove this whole way I want the passenger seat. I’ll roast in this one” their car being as shitty and run down as it was only had one window that rolled down, and of course it was the passenger side window.

“Nope I’m already here, besides older twin gets the better seats” Lup laughed making Taako pout harder. 

“We don’t even know for sure whose older” he grumbled “but fine leave your poor sweet OLDER brother to roast alive over here. Make sure you hide my body from the animals when you have to leave me behind becuase I died of overheating” they both laughed at this. Sure the situation they were in was bad but they’d been through worse. And besides they had each other and a roof over their head. Lup reaches over and grabbed her brothers hand, giving him a small squeeze. Though they didn’t exchange words the message was clear ‘I’m here for you’ he squeezed back. And with that the twins drifted off into a fitful sleep. 

They weren’t able to get much sleep though, and were awoken of banging on the window next to Lup. Both elves shoot up, squinting into the darkness to see what the cause of the banging was. It was dark out, the sky a deep navy blue and dotted with stars.

At the passenger side window a figure banged frantically on the window, Taako wasn’t able to get a good view of them even with his dark vision. Lups hand moved automatically towards the door handle but Taako reached out a stopped “we don’t know if it’s one of those things Lulu, I am NOT getting my face chewed off cuz you opened the door like a dumbass” 

“Um Sir, Ma’am, please open the door and let me in” the figure spoke and the twins could see now that it was a young boy with dark skin and curly hair. He looked disheveled, his skin slick with sweat and his glasses askew. He was 100% a little boy and not a zombie. That didn’t make anything clearer though, what was a little boy doing outside of their car, in the middle of the night, alone. 

“Hey kiddo, what do you need” Lup asked as she was closer, she didn’t make any more moves to open the door. They didn’t trust easily, sure she wanted to help this little kid but they knew nothing about him. For all they knew he was infected or trying to lead them into a trap. 

“I um, I’d like it if you let me into this car please. It’s not safe out here, not with those things running around” he said nervously “there’s a lot of them, I lost them a while back they’ll catch up eventually. I don’t think they need to breathe or anything” he looked like he was about to keep on rambling but Taako cut him off

“That’s super fucking cryptic little man. Where are you even coming from? Last we checked there were no zombies on the road” he was getting a little annoyed, this was almost certainly a trick. Some group was using this little kid to lure them out of the car, probably to steal the car and whatever they had in it, no way in hell he was falling for that. 

“About that, turns out having a bunch of people stopped in one place was super convenient for the zombies. A big group came from the side of the road. My grandpa told me to get down and hide but...” he trailed off. Taako and Lup shared a look, this kid didn’t show any tells that he was lying and the story sounded pretty believable. They were suddenly very glad they’d chosen to leave the main road when they did. 

“Ok kid, I believe you” Taako said “but I need to know a little more before we let you in” the kid looked disappointed but nodded none the less. Taako fumages around in his car and handed the boy a bottle of water, they couldn’t help him if he collapsed and died, it’s not like Taako felt bad for him or anything. At least that’s what he told himself. The kid grabbed the water and drank it all in a matter of seconds. “Woah kid, you’re one thirsty boy aren’t you” 

“Well I did just run for a very long time. I think I get to be a little thirsty” 

“Yeah about that” Lup said “How’d you manage to get from the road to here, it’s not exactly close by” the kids face darkened. Lup and Taako both knew that look, something bad had happened. This was not going to be a pretty story.

“Well....you already know that the zombies came onto the roads. They attacked anyone they could, grandpa covered my eyes so I couldn’t see much but...I think they were able to break into some of the cars, I don’t know how...they’re not supposed to be smart or anything but...” he trailed off and rubbed his eyes. He looked like he was about to cry. “Some of them started banging on the window of our car, I was scared and I think grandpa was too. He told me to get out and run, he said he’d be right behind me but” he let out a heart wrenching sob “he’s old he can’t run as fast as me. I think they got him, I didn’t turn around and look but...I think they got him. After that I just kept running. I didn’t see a lot of other people so I just kept going. And then I ran into three of the zombies, I could run them but I think they’re still coming this way...can you guys drive me to Phandolin, that’s where me and Grandpa we’re going” he looked at them hopefully” 

Taako gulped, it shouldn’t be this hard to tell the kid no he thought to himself “about that kid, our car is kinda out of commission right now. We’re gonna walk to Phandolin tomorrow but yeah...we ain’t driving anywhere” 

“How about this” Lup said as she unlocked the door “you sleep in here with us tonight and tomorrow we all walk together” the boy nodded furiously. He climbed in and made himself at home in the cramped back seat.

“Thank you so much sir and ma’am, really thank you” 

“You don’t have to call us that, we’re still young even for elves” Lup said “I’m Lup and the ugly one is Taako” she said motioning at her brother.

“HEY! Don’t mind my sister kid, she’s super blind, she can’t even tell that she’s the ugly one” he dodged a light punch from Lup “you never told us your name though kiddo” 

“Oh” he blinked at them and then beamed “it’s Angus, Angus MacDonald” 

——————————————————————————-

Davenport drove along the side road in his camper, lovingly referred to as ‘The Starblaster’. He was glad he’d been smart enough to stay on the outskirts of the city of Phandolin. Once things had started to go south he’d been able to get out there quick. He felt pity for those we’d actually been in the city though. There’s all most no way they could have gotten out, not with it being as overrun as it was. 

He drove on one of the empty exit roads, he hadn’t seen any signs of life since he’d left almost an hour ago, he had no idea where he’d even go from here. With the way things went down in Phandolin almost no city would be safe. At least he had a camper he thought. He’d been living out of it for years, he could keep going. Though he’d never had to worry about zombies while living in it, but well what could he do. 

Up ahead he though he saw something on the side of the road, a car from the looks of it. As he got closer he could tell that yeah, it was a car, and a run down one at that, he was suprised the thing could still run. He was ready to just drive past it and forget about it when a figure stepped out into the road and started waving their arms wildly. 

He slammed in the breaks to avoid turning this Person, an elf by the looks of it, into a pancake. The elf ran to the side of the camper and started banging on the door. Davenport sighed, probably a hitchhiker he though, the car probably belonged to the elf and no doubt stopped working leaving them without a ride. He strode over to the door and cracked it open, enough that he could talk to the elf but he couldn’t get into the Starblaster. 

“What the actually hell do you think you’re doing!! You could have been killed” he bellowed at the elf before he could get any words out. 

“Listen, yeah I know, but I had to make sure you stopped ok? Listen ummm my sis and I’d car stopped working and we were wondering If maybe you’d take us to Phandolin” Davenport was taken aback, of course this elf didn’t know about Phandolin, I’d anything he was lucky his car had broken down at all. He just didn’t know how to tell the guy that Phandolin was gone. He let out another sigh, tonight just wasn’t his night.

“Phandolin’s gone kid, trust me you don’t wanna go there. Tell you what you and your sister get in and I’ll give you a ride back to the main road” he was feeling generous today, normally he wouldn’t pick up hitchhikers but this was the zombie apocalypse. If he let this elf stay here he was gonna get eaten eventually. 

He was brought out of his thoughts by the elf speaking frantically “what do you mean Phandolin’s gone? It’s a safe Haven still isn’t it? A city doesn’t just disappear my man” 

“It’s still there kiddo, but it’s overrun, I dunno what happened but trust me you do no wanna go there, it’s full of those zombie things” 

“But it was supposed to be safe” a small voice said from somewhere to Davenport right. He turned to see a small boy standing next to another elf identical to the first one. “That’s what the TV reports said, that’s what everyone was on the road trying to get in” Davenport didn’t know what to say, how do you tell a kid that an entire city just got devoured by the hungry dead. 

“It was safe I think, at least in theory. But I guess someone got infected and brought it in or something. Doesn’t really matter how it happened, we just know that it did. You guys can all get a ride in here, you can start bringing your stuff in now” the first elf nodded a little, clearly still shocked. 

“Come on kiddo, you’re gonna help me carry all this food and shit into this nice mans camper” he said as he guided the kid back to the run down car.

“You’re not gonna want to go on the main road this road leads to” the female elf said “the kid was on it last night, says it got overrun too, must be because of how many people there were like with Phandolin” Davenport considered this. It definitely made things a little more difficult but they’d manage.

“This camper can drive off road, we’ll find a way” he said.

“Thank you for taking us, I’m Lup, my brother is Taako and the kid is Angus” she said pointing at the two as she introduced them “and you are” 

“Davenport...I’m Davenport”


	3. The gangs all here (almost)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The groups meet up and a camp is setup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still on the world building part of this fic but soon we should get to that good drama. Also Magnus isn’t in this chapter but don’t worry Magnus fans he’s getting his own (mostly) solo chapter next.

Barry and Lucretia were incredibly lucky to make it out of Phandolin in one piece. It took a lot of wrong turns and running and more than a few close calls, but they made it out. That much could not be said about many of the other people in the city. Bodies lay strewn about the streets, some eaten down to the bare bones, some just waiting to turn. The two learned pretty quickly to avoid all bodies, no matter how dead they looked after a close call where what they thought was a dead body grabbed Barry’s leg and tried to take a chunk out of it. Lucky for him he was moving to fast for it to bite and it ended up with a bite of his jeans instead. A swift kick to the head from Lucretia had to stalled long enough for them to sprint out of its range. 

“Thanks Lucretia” Barry said.

“Just returning the favor I guess” she replied “I guess we’re equal now” if they hadn’t been running they probably would have laughed. 

The whole ordeal couldn’t have taken more than 20 minutes but it felt like a lifetime. By the time they’d made their way out of the zombie infested city and into the small sparsely wooded area beyond the city’s limits they were tired, sore and out of breath. From the looks of it they were among a small handful of people who’d managed to make it out alive. They didn’t dare approach the few others they saw. At this point it was every man for themselves, there was no way of knowing if the people they saw were infected or not. 

They’d stopped running at this point, and only saw a few zombies once they’d gotten out of the immediate surroundings. They let themselves stop for a little bit to catch their breathe and shared some of the food and water Lucretia had brought with her in her pack. It wasn’t that heavy to begin with but it was starting to weigh her down at this point. 

“Hey um, I could carry that for you if you wanted” Lucretia looked over and saw Barry motion towards the backpack “you ran all this was with it and shared your food and water, it’s the least I can do” Lucretia tried to looks for any tells that he was lying to her or trying to trick her but it was dark and his face was already flushed enough as it was. 

“Promise you aren’t gonna run off with my shit the moment I hand it over” it wouldn’t be the end of the world, it was only a little bit of food and water, and some clothes of hers that Barry wouldn’t even be able to use, but her journals were in there and there was no was she was going to risk losing those. She tried to give him her most intimidating stare, it seemed to work becuase Barry seemed to flush even harder and he started stammering.

“No, no I promise I didn’t mean it like that, I mean it might have come off that way and come to think of it that is something a lot of other people would do, but no I actually want to help you. I swear” he took a breath “if you don’t feel comfortable I won’t push it, it’s just you’ve helped me out so much I just want to return to favor. If I didn’t have you back in Phandolin, well I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have made it out.” He seemed genuine, and the bag was heavy so Lucretia caved. 

“Go ahead” she said handing it to him “and thanks, you know I wouldn’t be here if not for you either” they shared a moment of silence together, neither knew quite what to say to the other. 

“Where do you think we should go from here” Barry asked “I mean, obviously not Phandolin because you know...zombies and all that, but where else can we go” 

Lucretia thought for a moment “we should probably try to get a little further away from the city, who knows of those zombies are gonna stay there or not” Barry nodded, it was the best idea either could come up with, he wasn’t gonna argue about it.

“Is there a road or anything near here? We might be able to hitch a ride with some of the other people leaving the city” he asked. He really hoped other people had gotten out like they had, hell there had to be other survivors. They couldn’t be the only ones who made it out. 

“I don’t really know where we are, but there is main road that leads in and out of Phandolin, that’s probably our best bet. You ready” Lucretia nodded and she and Barry set out into the night hoping to find something, anything that could help them at this point. 

——————————————————————————-

Merle didn’t know how long his family had stayed in that empty clearing. They were all still shaken up and no one had made moves to leave the car yet. He held his daughter, Mavis and stroked her hair as she cried quietly. She was only 12 and seeing what had happened on the road had scared her to her core. Hecuba held Mookie in her arms, he’d fallen asleep at this point. It made sense he was very young, only 7, and it was late and they’d had such an eventful day. 

Merle envied the fact that Mookie was able to fall asleep. He knew for a fact he wouldn’t be able to, he was terrified. He kept expecting more of those zombies to pour out of the woods from all directions to surround his family. With the way things were on the road he had a sinking suspicion that Phandolin might not be an option for his family anymore. He didn’t dare voice this suspicion though, no point in scaring his family anymore than they already were. All he wanted for for Mavis to fall asleep so that he and Hecuba could talk about where to go next. 

Sleep came to the little girl eventually, and her breathing evened out. After a few minutes Merle got the nerve to speak “what happened on the road...do you think the same thing happened in Phandolin” 

Hecuba sniffled “I didn’t want to thin about it, but some of those zombies, they were comping from the direction of the city...” she looked at him and he could see that she was crying “Merle I think Phandolin is gone” she broke down and started to sob quietly. Merle could feel the urge to cry but he tried to ignore it. One of them had to stay strong, for the kids at least. 

“Yeah, I don’t wanna believe it either. It was supposed to be safe you know. Guess things didn’t work out” she nodded. They didn’t talk after that, what was there to say. They didn’t know anywhere else that was housing people and they couldn’t go home. They were lost and alone. 

Hours passed, Hecuba eventually fell into a fitful sleep. Merle still couldn’t do it though. He brain wouldn’t shut off, he coudant stop thinking of the elven zombie on the road, and her empty eyes. Those zombies, they weren’t people. He thought to himself. That elf on the road, she wasn’t alive, she had been at one point but now, she was just a shell, an empty husk. What if he turned into one of those. What if his family did? He shut down that thought. They were safe for now and that’s all that mattered. 

He caught a movement from the corner of his eye, something was moving in the bushes on the far side of the clearing. His heart jumped and he prayed that it was just a wild animal, a deer or something and not one of the zombies. Much to his despair as whatever it was moved closer he could make out two humanoid shapes. Oh god, he was terrified to deal with one zombie let alone two, and what if there were more. He didn’t think he could deal with a big group like the one on the road. 

As the two figures moved further into view, he noticed something weird, they were talking. He hadn’t seen any zombies talk in any of the report he’d seen on them, and now that he could see them he saw that they weren’t shambling like the zombies did, and they looked...alive. It was clear now, these weren’t zombies, these were living people. 

What to do was the question. They hadn’t noticed him yet, if he sat still maybe they’d just pass him by and move on. But they were headed towards the direction of the road. They were on foot, and vulnerable. He couldn’t let them keep going, they’d die. So he did the first thing he could think of, he beeped the horn. 

Instantly the two stopped and looked at him, he couldn’t see their faces but he was sure they were shocked. Beeping the horn had also woken up everyone in the car though and Mavis and Mookie started crying again. And Hucuba asked him in a panicked voice “what’s wrong, are there more of them here” 

“No just two people, I’m going to go out and talk to them, you guys wait here” 

He wasn’t sure this was a great idea, but he’d already honked at them and they obliviously knew he was here. He just hoped they weren’t infected already. As he approached he was able to make out their faces. A young dark-skinned woman With poofy brown hair and glasses, and a nerdy looking man with glasses and one of blithe most worn out pairs of jeans Merle had ever seen. 

He figured that walking towards them and and saying nothing after he’d just scared them half to death with his car horn probably wasn’t the best idea so he decided to call out to them “hey, didn’t mean to scare you. We just haven’t seen anyone since we left the road...where are you two coming from” the two looked at each other, he couldn’t read their expressions in the dark but the man looked more than a little distressed.

“We just left Phandolin, we were heading to the road, it is this way right” the woman said pointing towards the direction they were heading. She must not know Merle thought. And Phandolin must be gone, he couldn’t see any reason why two people would leave it if it was still safe. 

“Yeah it’s that way but I wouldn’t go there if I were you. My family and I, we were ok that road trying to get into Phandolin. Zombies attacked and we were just able to get away.” The man looked surprised at that and the woman looked down seemingly deep in thought. 

“Well, that’s no good. We were headed towards the road” the man said “Phandolin is gone, zombies attacked and it’s completely overrun. Lucretia and I are lucky we even made it out.” The woman, Lucretia Merle guessed nodded. 

“This really does change our plans. I guess there are other rods we can take, but without a map I wouldn’t be able to find them. And in this light we’ll get lost before we can make it to any” her brows knit together. “Come to think of it I might have a map in my bad, Barry do you might passing it to me?” Barry handed it to her, and she began to rummage around in it. Merle was a little taken aback, even after all this young woman had just been through she was still looking for a way ahead. He’d have to ask her to see that map if she found one, or at least ask her for directions towards the next exit from the city that she knew. 

“Got it” Lucretia exclaimed, holding up the map. She used her flashlight to read it and started looking. After only a short moment she turned the map towards Barry and Merle, and pointed at a small side road “there, it’ll be a bit of a walk but, this should get us out of the city, and a there’s a Gas station a few miles in that we might be able to get help at. Barry nodded and so did Merle. Her idea was better than anything he’d come up with. 

But it would be dangerous walking at night, they might get taken out my zombies before they even made it to the road. “Hey that’s a good idea and everything, but it’s dark out. There’s no way you’d be able to make it there right now. How about you camp out outside my family’s car. There’s no room inside, sorry. But we can get you guys some blankets and food” Lucretia and Barry both nodded and gave their words of thanks, happy to find somewhere mostly safe to rest. 

Merle headed back into the car and quickly explained it to a reluctant Hecuba. He was fairly certain these two people wheren’t dangerous and they’d be in the car with them outside. He gathered two blankets and some food and water and took it outside to Barry and Lucretia. Barry was sitting down a little away from the car, and Lucretia was digging through her bag again. Merle handed them the food and blankets and once again they thanked him.

Merle rentered his car once he was sure they were going to be fine. Looking through the window back at them he saw that Lucretia was writing frantically in a journal. How she still had the energy to, he didn’t know. But he could understand. So much had happened today that he was sure he’d forget half of it by tomorrow, writing it down wasn’t a bad idea. 

——————————————————————————

Davenport wasn’t totally sure that he’d made the right choice, picking up those twins and that little kid. Sure he couldn’t have just left them there, they would have died, but now listening to them bicker for hours on end he was starting to second guess his decision, after all maybe someone else would have come and saved them. He’d always hoped to someday adopt children, when he first bought the Starblaster he’d made sure it was big enough for a small family. But things had happened and he’d never gotten around to adopting. But bickering like this is something he really didn’t feel like he missed out on. 

Though Taako and Lup’s bickering seemed less about fighting, and more about talking and putting on a show for Angus. He seemed to dig it too, Davenport thought to himself that the twins were trying to act like they weren’t afraid, to try and make Angus feel better. Davenport could admire that, the kid seemed to buy into it and he was back there, laughing at their antics. 

“Quiet down guys” he said for what felt like the thousandth time. They laughed and said they’d try but he knew that in five minutes they’d be back to the same volume. He couldn’t stay mad though. He stayed focused on the road instead. They’d driven through the night, and he could really use a break from driving. 

He’d briefly considered asking one of the twins to take over, but that idea had been shut down almost immediately. He wasn’t too confident in either of their driving skills, and he’d only known them for less than a day. The Starblaster was his home and had been for years, he wasn’t going to let just anyone drive it. 

So instead he opted for trying to find a spot to park and rest. Along the road wasn’t the best place, they’d been mostly empty during the night. They passed the occasional abandoned car or stray zombie. They always just drove past though, the zombies could never keep up and they lost them every time. He searched the tree line for a break big enough to drive his RV through, sometimes there were small clearings a little ways past the tree line. Usually you weren’t really supposed to go to them but, he’d done it more than a few times in his past. That would be their safest bet, he could just park the Starblaster, tell his three passengers to shut up and do whatever they want while he got some shut eye. 

He saw a break in the trees, big enough that he could comfortably drive the Starblaster through it “it’s gonna be a bumpy ride guys, make sure you’re holding onto something” he warned the three in the back. They all yelled their oks back to him and he began to drive. It wasn’t horrible, a little bumpy but not unbearable. And soon they were driving along some sort of gravel trail, probably used for maintenance. 

The trail went on for about 5 minutes before they reached clearing, it would have been perfect. It was secluded from the road, and big enough that Davenport could’ve parked in the middle and still been able to see all around the RV. Only one thing made it less than perfect, there were already people here. 

They’d definitely heard the RV approach, he could see at least 2 people camping out outside of the car parked in the middle of the field and there were a few more people in the car itself. He stalled the camper and felt one of the twins move over to his side

“Oh shit, those are people” Taako said “do you think they’ll mind us sharing this field, Taako could use a RV break” Davenport wasn’t sure, he couldn’t think of any reason why they couldn’t all use this clearing. But then again the apocalypse can make people nasty. But looking at the people on the field he didn’t feel particularly threatened. The two camping outside of the car looked to be young adults, and Davenport could see a middle aged dwarven man exiting the car and making his way towards the Starblaster. 

The young man and woman got up and started following him as well and Davenport figured he’d better go out and talk with them. He got up to exit the car and grabbed Taako and started dragging him out with him. This was going to be awkward and there was no way in hell he was going to do it alone, Taako protested and whined but followed along. Davenport could hear someone, probably Lup getting up from the bed and following as well. They could do this, all they had to do was explain that they needed a place to park the RV. Davenport just hoped he wouldn’t be adding more passengers to his RV. Sure it was spacious but he got the feeling that it would be a little cramped even with just the four of them. 

“Told Ango to stay in the Starblaster” Lup said in a hushed tone “just in case things get hairy” Davenport agreed, these people looked reasonable, but there was a high chance they’d come from Phandolin as well and were no doubt as scared as they were. The two groups continued walking towards each other and stopped about a foot apart. The dwarven man spoke first.

“I’m Merle Highchurch, this is Lucretia and Barry” he gestured to Lucretia and Barry in turn “my family was on the road when it was attack and we ended up here, these two” he pointed to Lucretia and Barry again “came here from Phandolin last night, it’s gone in case you didn’t know” 

“Yeah I was there, just barely got away in the Starblaster” Davenport replied “My Davenport, the twins are Taako and Lup, I can’t tell which is which” the twins looked a little annoyed at that, and introduced themselves to the other three. Merle seemed like a reasonable man, Davenport wasn’t disliking this as much as he thought he would. 

“Oh you’re from the city too” Lucretia asked. Davenport nodded. She seemed to consider that but didn’t say anything else. 

“We’re just looking for a place to stop the Starblaster” Davenport said. “I’ve been driving all night and could really use a rest, do you guys mind letting us camp out here” 

“Of course, of course” Merle said “we don’t own this land or anything” he laughed. Davenport was relieved, he’d finally be able to sleep. 

“Hey I’ll go get the kid out of the RV so you can sleep” Taako said. “Lulu and I will chill out here with these folks, I think we’ve bothered you enough for right now” Davenport grunted ans nodded as the twins left to go get Angus. 

“Make all three of you eat breakfast” he called out after them. Not because he was starting to grow fond of them or anything he thought to himself. He just didn’t them coming back in for snacks later. He was 100% not starting to enjoy their company, right?

And that’s how things went, Davenport went and took a nap in his camper, the twins sat outside and talked with Barry and Lucretia. And Angus had a blast playing with Merle’s kids. This place was perfect, no zombies came close to entering and they had plenty of room to move around. It was perfect for setting up a camp, of they needed to of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually looked up models for RVs becuase I wanted to have a good idea of what the Starblaster looked like, here’s a link for the one that I choose in case anyone’s curious 
> 
> https://coachmenrv.com/class-a-motorhomes/encore/375RB/5380
> 
> My phone keeps giving me ads for RV’s now though. Kinda funky.


	4. The gangs all here (for real this time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus wakes up and doesn’t know where the fuck he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting my writing is way out of my comfort zone, it’s always been one of my weak points, but seeing the amount of people who’ve interacted with this makes me really happy. I have big things planned for this fic and I hope y’all end up enjoying it. 
> 
> This being said, as I stated my writing isn’t that strong so if you have tips for how to improve feel free to comment them, same thing if you find a typo or grammatical error. I do proofread but I end up missing quite a few, so just let me know if you find one so it can be fixed.

Magnus awoke with a throbbing ache in his head. His whole body felt sore, especially his shoulder. He faintly remembered what happened, there’d been a dog. Magnus loved dogs, so when he saw one being messed with my some random drunks he rushed in to help. And then he was shot. 

That explained the pain in his shoulder, and the fact that he was in what looked like a hospital room. The room was small, and empty of people except for him. He thought it was a little weird that no nurses or doctors were here when he woke up, he’d never been in a medically induced coma before but that doesn’t seem like something you just wake up from on your own. But maybe it wasn’t so weird he thought to himself, he’d just go and find a nurse and see if he could go home. 

He slowly and painstakingly got up from the bed, his shoulder was still sore but he could move it without too much pain. He pulled the needles from his arms, gently as to not hurt himself. He noticed that the drips and bags they attached too were empty. He found that weird, don’t they usually replace them once they run out? Come to think of it a lot of stuff in the room we’re weird. He hadn’t noticed when he first woke up since he was focused on the pain he felt, but there was papers and files scattered on the floor, like someone had left it in a hurry. He got the feeling that something weird happened here, all the more reason to get up and find a nurse. 

He got up and walked, slowly, to the door. He was dizzy, he felt dehydrated. He’d have to ask the nurse for some water once he found them. The hallway was empty once he exited the room. It was silent. 

“Hey, Nurse” he yelled, there was no answer “Nurse? This is Magnus, I just woke up” again no answers. He was starting to feel very unsettled. Someone should have answered. Something wasn’t right here. He started walking faster. He needed to find someone, anyone at this point, to help ease the growing panic he felt. 

He ran through empty hallway after empty hallways, his panic growing with each turn he took. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong. He eventually came to a door that was locked, he couldn’t open it no matter how hard he tried. Bending down he looked through the window and saw a grisly sight. A body, missing most of the flesh off of its bone. Almost as it it was eaten. The body was almost certainly human. This didn’t make Magnus feel any better, if anything it make him feel worse. Something happened here and he was started to get the feeling that no one was here except for him, no one living at least. 

He kept going though, he had to, he didn’t want to spend any more time than he had to in that hospital. He’d go home, that’s where he’d be safe he reasoned with himself. It took him a while to navigate the maze like hallways of the hospital, but eventually he made it to the exit. Without thinking twice he left, Magnus rushes out.

The street was empty as well, just like the hospital. Magus tried to think of what could be causing this. Could it have been because of that weird virus that had started popping up? The one all the news sites were talking about? Maybe people were quarantining to avoid catching it. But that wouldn’t explain why the hospital was empty, or the half eaten body. That half eaten body was freaking Magnus out, he couldn’t rationalize it. Best not to dwell on it he though. 

Instead he focused on making his was home. It was cold, colder than he remembered it being before he was sent to the hospital, gods how long was he there for? The thin hospital gown he wore did little to keep him warm, he’d have to get changed as soon as he got back to his home. 

He knew the route though, and it would only be about a 20 minutes walk, but without shoes it might take him longer. He really wished he had some proper clothes, this sucked. Time went on, and he got closer to his home. He still didn’t pass anyone, not that he was expecting to. 

He got almost all the way home before he saw another person. He just a couple of blocks away when he saw a man walking the same direction as he was. He seemed to be limping. Magnus was overjoyed though, maybe this man could fill him in on what was going on. “Sir, I’m ecuse me” he yelled out and started jogging towards him. 

The man turned around and Magnus froze. The mans skin was deathly pale, and his skin was peeling and rotten looking. He snarled and snapped his teeth, which were red with what looked a lot like blood, in fact his whole mouth seemed to be rimmed with dried blood. The man started limping towards Magnus, moving slowly. Magnus could now see that his leg was missing flesh in chunks and the bone was exposed. What the actual hell was he seeing. 

Before he could even process what he was seeing he heard a gunshot and the man feel to the ground. He turned around, trying to see who’d shot the gun. Only to feel a sharp pain in the side of head and fall immediately to the ground. 

His ears were ringing and he could feel himself starting to slip out of conscious. He tried to look and see his attacker but all he could make out were 3 pairs of worn out boots and panicked voices before he slipped out of conscious. 

Magnus woke up in an unfamiliar bed for the second time in 24 hours, this trope was getting old he thought to himself. Really unoriginal at this point. His arms were bound to the headboard of the bed, loosely so they didn’t hurt. He felt another wave of panic hit him at this, he was trapped, presumably by the people who attacked him. He pulled lightly on the restraints, zip ties by the feel of it. He didn’t have the strength to break free from them, and the pressure of pulling was starting to hurt his wrists, the plastic digging in with every tug. His head throbbed and he figured he’d been whacked with something heavy, which would explain why he was knocked out. That wouldn’t explain though how he came to be in this unfamiliar room. 

Just then someone came in the through the door way of the room. Magnus’s head whipped around to face them the moment he heard movement. Much to his surprise it was a small Dragonborn woman. Was this really the person who’d knocked him out? Though looking at her arms he could see that she had quite a bit of muscle bulk, so it wouldn’t be out of the question. She was carrying a water bottle and what looked to be a bowl of soup, steam rising from it. Gods Magnus was hungry, just the thought of a bowl of soup had his stomach growling. He’d have to add hunger pains to the mental list of the pain he was feeling. First his shoulder, then his head and now his stomach, he really was having an awful day. 

The Dragonborn woman looked surprised to see him awake, she started to approached but stopped before she made it all the way to the bed. Magnus knew he looked angry, he didn’t blame her for being scared, but he wanted answers, and to be freed from his restraints. 

“Hey um, sorry for earlier. It was just a big misunderstanding” she said, her voice was slightly raspy but not unpleasant “I thought you were one of the dead ones, I mean you look like one in that hospital gown” she smiled sheepishly at him. Magnus didn’t fully understand what she meant, but at least he knew she didn’t really want to kill him. 

“So you’re the one who knocked me out?” He asked flatly. 

“Yeah that’s me” she answered “again sorry about it, really. I didn’t hear you talking, Killian did though. She gave me quite an earful about bonking you” Magnus nodded, still not totally sure what she was talking about. 

“And Killian is” he asked, he figured that was the easiest way to get more answers out of this lady. 

“Oh, yeah you wouldn’t know. She’s my girlfriend. We’re camping out here with another girl, her names Noelle, she’s the one who shot that dead one you were trying to talk to. You know how stupid that was right? If she hadn’t spotted it you’d be that things lunch.” What? It seemed like everytime Magnus learned more he ended up with even more questions. 

“That man, he was going to eat me” he asked, not liking the look she gave him, like he’d just asked her what color the sky was. “All I know is that this Noelle person shot a sick man in the street” he said quickly “and then you” he tried his best to point at her, which didn’t really work because of the ties on his wrists “came and whacked me and I woke up here” she looked even more confused at this. 

“Where’ve you been man, the word went to shit 2 weeks ago, you been in a coma or something” 

“Yeah pretty much” she laughed at this, thinking it was a joke. One look at his face though made her stop. 

“You’re not joking. You really were in a coma? Oh damn this must be so confusing for you, I’ll do my best to explain but don’t hate me if I get stuff wrong. I was just kinda expecting you to at least know what’s going on” 

And so she did, she explained the virus to Magnus, how it had started infecting people and how they’d started moving towards cities. She explained how she and her girlfriend, Killian had been heading towards Phandolin but had in countered a horde of the undead, and ended up holding up in his town, they’d picked up Noelle a few days later when she’d wandered into town. And lastly she explained that a bite from one of the undead would turn you into one of them. That’s why they’d had him tied up, they’d thought that the bandages on his chest were covering a bite and were trying to take precautions. 

In turn Magnus showed her the bullet wound on his chest. This satisfied her and she cut the ties on his wrists and gave him the water and soup. While he ate he told her about how he’d gotten shot, she thought it was hilarious. And about how he’d woken up in the hospital, and how he’d gotten here. With everything explained and cleared up and with a belly full of food he was feeling a whole lot better. Carry, as he found she was named, agreed to accompany him to his apartment the next day, and told him he was welcome to stay with her, Killian and Noelle for as long as he wanted. 

This day had sucked majorly, but after meeting Carry it had started to improve drastically. Later on he got to meet Noelle and Killian, both of whom also apologized for the misunderstanding. He found some clothes in the house that would fit him and was finally able to change out of the hospital gown he’d been wearing for who knows how long. 

The next day they went to his apartment, they actually ended up moving their little setup to there since it was more spacious than the place they were previously staying. Carry helped to train Magnus in the best ways to kill the undead creatures that filled the town, any headshot would do. Guns worked for long distance but the noise would draw other zombies to you so they only used them for emergencies. They only had one gun, a small handgun that belonged to Noelle. She was a good shot and it was in good hands with her, more than a few times she’d been able to save them by shooting a zombies that got a little too close for comfort. 

About 2 weeks into his stay with them, Magnus came up with an idea “let’s raid the sheriffs department” at first the women were confused but when he explained that they’d have more guns and ammo, they agreed pretty quickly. They’d all feel more protected with a gun and so they went. It went pretty much without a hitch, Carry was able to pick all the locks into the building and the armory and all four of them loaded up on guns and ammo. It was great, Noelle taught them how to shoot, Magnus still preferred close range combat but the guns definitely helped.

After around a month though something started weighing on him. He had an aunt and uncle in Phandolin. They were no doubt worried sick about with after this long without contact, hell they probably thought he was dead. He knew what he wanted to do, he wanted to go to Phandolin and try and find them. But he didn’t know how to tell his group that. It had only been a month but he was really starting to grow fond of them. Carry was the best friend he’d had in ages, and Killian was a close second. And Noelle, well she was a good bit younger than him and because of that she’d started to feel almost like a younger sister. Magnus had never had siblings but he imagined that if he didn’t, the bond he had with them would feel like the bond he had with Killian, Carry and Noelle. 

It was with a heavy heart that he told them he wanted to go to Phandolin. They were of course bummed out but supported his decision. He tried to convince them to come with him. After all they’d originally been planning on going to the city themselves. But they had made up their minds and wanted to stay where they were. They’d gotten used to it, they felt safe here they didn’t need to go to Phandolin. And so he went alone. There were hugs and some tears. They made sure he had plenty of food and a bag with some of the guns from the sheriffs department “just in case” Carry had said when she’d hugged him goodbye. They made promises, that after this was done and everything was fixed up they’d meet up again. Magnus would be lying if he said that he hadn’t cried when he drove the (stolen) car they’d packed up out of the town. He was going to miss them. 

But he turned his mind to the task at hand, his Aunt and uncle, Phandolin. He drove for a few hours, occasionally passing an abandoned car or small group of zombies. Sometimes he stopped to kill them, other times he just drove past, watching them disappear in the back window of the car. He eventually had to stop, he was running out of gas. He hadn’t thought this through but he pulled into the first house he could find, hoping it was abandoned and that he wouldn’t be shot for trespassing or something like that. Lucky for him there seemed to be no one home, he tried the door and it was unlocked, that gave him an uneasy feeling. He dared to venture inside and his heart nearly stopped when he did.

Sitting in the living room, we’re two people. They were dead the first, a woman, Had a bullet hole between her eyes. She was rotten and starting to decay, and the second one, a man had the gun positioned and facing towards his head, a suicide by the looks of it. Magnus got the picture. This man and his wife had chosen to die instead of Facing the pandemic. He couldn’t blame them, it was terrifying, but yet he made a promise to himself right then and there that no matter how hard things got he’d never let himself die. He’d keep trying no matter what. 

He didn’t bother going further into the house after that, it felt wrong, like he was disturbing something he wasn’t supposed to. Instead he went outside hoping there was a car he could take. He found one but couldn’t get it to work, which sucked. His last Hope was the barn outside of the house. He entered and saw the first good sight of the day. A horse stood in one of the stall in the barn. It was a beautiful grey with dappled white spots, it neighed when it saw Magnus and he had a wonderful idea. “What do you say to a trip into the city girl” he asked, he imagined that the neigh she let out was an enthusiastic “yes”.

He grabbed what he could carry, a small pack with food, water and some spare clothes, the bag of guns Carry had given him. And on a whim he grabbed a heavy axe that he’d found laying by the side of the house. The weight felt perfect in his arms and he figured, the original owners wouldn’t be needing it much anymore anyways. “I’m gonna call you rail splitter” he said to the axe. The name seemed to fit and he was very pleased with himself for coming up with it. Nevermind the fact that he was a grown man naming an inanimate object. That wasn’t weird at all. 

And so on the back of the horse, whom he’d decided to name dotty after her spotted fur, he made his was to Phandolin. 

On dotty he wasn’t confined to the road and he took this opportunity to go off-road, he’d get there quicker this way he thought. Looking back at this moment he’d realize how much of a mistake this was. If he’d stayed ok the road he’d have come to the mess that was the main road that was leading into Phandolin, he’d have figured that there was no Phandolin. Or maybe he’d have come across the group that was camped outside the city and been able to join them. But since he was not on the road he saw none of this and road into the city unaware of what he’d been facing once he got there. 

The first street he got to was packed with zombies. In a blur they’d surrounded him and dotty. He tried to steer her out of them, tried to save her, but their hungry teeth were already tearing into her flesh. She cried out in pain and the noise hurt Magnus’s heart, this was his fault. She went down and more zombies feel upon her, devouring her alive. He jumped off before she even reached the ground and tried to run up the crowds of the zombies were so thick he couldn’t navigate. It seemed that for every zombie he dodged three more took its place further up the road. He was going to die. He was sure of it. He shouldn’t have come here, he should have stayed with Carry and the rest. 

But he remembered the promise he’d made to himself earlier. He wouldn’t go down without a fight. Raising rail splitter he did his best to fight off the growing horde, hacking and slicing as best he could. But it was no use, there was only one of him and hundreds of them. But he wouldn’t admit defeat. He kept slicing away, when he though he heard something. At first he thought it was his imagination. After all it was hard to heard through the noise of the growling zombies and railsplitter. But no, he definitely heard something...and it sounded like a voice. 

“HEY DUMBASS LOOK UP” the voice yelled “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LOOK UP YOU STUPID LITTE-“ Magnus risked a look up and saw a elven man looking down at him. Well that was weird. “THE FIRE ESCAPE, TO YOUR LEFT” the man yelled pointing. Magnus looked where he was pointing and saw that miraculously the way was clear, he booked it and scrambled up the cold metal. The zombies tried to follow but their unsteady feet couldn’t quite make it up the stairs. The elven man quickly pulled the fire escape up after Magnus made it up and Magnus hurried to help him. 

Looking up Magnus realized that the man wasn’t alone, there was a whole group and they all looked...angry. 

“What the hell were you doing” the man asked angrily “you could’ve gotten yourself killed, and FUCK you’ve got US all killed now” it looked like Magnus had gotten himself into big trouble now. Just his luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this, now that the seven birds have met up I can finally start making them suffer, out of love of course. Also it took all my self control to stop myself from writing a whole 1,000 words about the whole ‘don’t dead open inside’ door scene. Because Magnus would 100% read it like that and you can’t change my mind.


	5. Fun in the city

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang is stuck in Phandolin. They work out an escape plan and we get to find out what everyone else has been doing while Magnus was vibing in his hometown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that the whole crew (mostly) is in one place and will be I’ll be working on instead of changing locations and perspectives just chasing perspectives. You know, until I separate them again for ~plot reasons~

The crazy man Taako rescued had just messed things up big time. He was already starting to regret his decision, when had he become the type to recuse a stranger in need? Taako’s good out here, right? Maybe it had been when he’d chosen to save that little boy, Angus. The kid was making him soft, damn it. He couldn’t hate the kid though, and right now he had more pressing matters. Being that fact that his group was absolutely, totally fucked. 

They’d seen that idiot ride into Phandolin on his horse, stupid idea if you asked Taako. He had no idea what had possessed the man that he though it was a good idea. Maybe it was his first time in the city since the fall. Who knows. Anyways all he knew was that the man had flooded their exit with zombies and that they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. They’d have to try and find another way out. 

Of course it happened today though, the one day they brought just about everyone. Usually it was just him and Lup who went on runs into the city, looking for anything they could use or any signs of help on the way. This time though They’d brought Merle, Barry, Lucretia, and some newer members of the group, Sazed and Isaac. Now if I have just been Taako and Lup they’d have been able to make it out, they were smart, they were quick and they always had each other’s backs. But with a group this big there was no way they’d all be able to make it through those crowds. 

Lup must have seen his worried expression and she quickly made her way to his side. Faintly he could head Lucretia talking with the stranger but he focused his gaze on the swarm of zombies below their fire escape. “Taako, I know that look” she started “you think we’re dead already” she grasped his hand and gave it a squeeze that he didn’t return. 

“Just think about it Lulu, those things aren’t going to move and we aren’t all gonna be able to make it through them” she gave him a worried glance. 

“Worst case scenario we camp out here for a few days while we wait for them to leave” Lup said “we’ll be fine we’ve slept in worse conditions” and she was right, yet Taako still felt uneasy about staying here. He knew why of course, he’d promised Angus he’d be back that night. Promised him that he’d been safe, they everyone would be back. He knew that if he didn’t come back home the little boy would assume the worst, he’d already lost so much Taako didn’t want to imagine him, curled up alone on the bed in the Starblaster. He’d never say it out loud but the kid reminded him of himself, and he felt fondly about him. 

“Koko?” Lup broke him out of though she even more worried now, he must have zoned out “we haven’t even gone in yet, who knows maybe there’s another exit” he nodded. They hadn’t gone it and done any scavenging yet, and that was what they’d come for. He finally gave her hand a squeeze and turned around to face the door. To his surprise everyone but Merle had already gone in. The dwarf beconned Them over to the door way. 

“They’ve already already gone in” he said “that man, Magnus his name is, said to tell you he’s sorry for drawing the herd. He hasn’t been to a city yet, I guess he though they were still safe havens” Taako snorted a little at this, sounded about right. Only someone with a death wish would go into a city knowing what was there. “But hear this, the dude has like...a shit ton of guns” Merle continued “and you know, I figured we could use some more” 

“What are you saying old man” Taako cut him off “are you suggesting we murder him? Cuz Taako’s not ready to be a killer, I can help with cleanup though” Lup snickered at this and Merle just stared them down blankly. 

“Back to what I was saying” he continued as if Taako hadn’t just suggested killing a man “he’s coming back to the camp with us, and we’re getting some of those guns” before Taako could say anything he spoke again “no arguments, I know you don’t like him just yet but I get a feeling you’ll get along well. Besides we can’t just leave him on his own, and he can fight, we need some muscle with our group.” Taako wanted to argue, he really did, but Merle had a point. This new man, Magnus, was certainly going to make this interesting. 

——————————————————————————  
Lucretia had tried to move Magnus and the rest of the group into the building as fast as possible after Magnus had joined them on the fire escape. Merle told her he’d be waiting outside for the twins, she understood that, she just hoped they weren’t mad. They’d been against bringing everyone along on this supply run. She’d been the one to argue that bringing more people was better. They’d be able to carry more supplies and they were safer in groups. She appreciated what the twins had done for them for the past month, going alone but she’d wanted to help, everyone had. They’d voiced their concerns of course, Lup was worried they’d get trapped or caught or worse, and she was kind of right. Lucretia wasn’t one to deny the evidence in front of her, she knew their escape was blocked, she knew they were stuck, that the twins fears had come to pass. But she also knew that they may have just gained a very valuable asset. 

Magnus was strong, she’d seen this firsthand when watching him cut down zombies with his axe. He was also brave, he hadn’t tried to run until Taako had called to him. They didn’t have anyone like that in their group yet. Sazed liked to act like he was strong, but he was a coward, she’d seen it far too many times. He’d get all ready to try and kill a zombie in front of Taako, trying to impress him, but he’d chicken out at the last minute and someone else would have to rush to kill it before anyone got hurt. Magnus wasn’t like that, not that she’d seen at least. 

He was going to help her look for another exit. The rest had said they were going to scavenge, looking for food and medicine and whatever other useful things they could find. Looking around she saw Barry and Isaac dispersed throughout the building, searching. It was a pretty standard department store, Taako and Lup had been coming here at least once a week for a while but the shelves were still mostly full. She saw the twins ask Merle renter, Lup shot her a thumbs up that seemed to say ‘all clear’ and a cheeky grin. Lucretia smiles a little to herself, Lup was acting like her usual self and Taako didn’t look like he wanted to commit murder so she assumed things had gone well outside. Sazed made a bee line for the twins and Lucretia couldn’t help but wonder why the man was so oblivious. It wasn’t her problem and she knew the twins would skin her if she tried to make them talk about it, but the man was clearly smitten with Taako and possibly Lup? She couldn’t tell anymore. Whatever it was made him act like a total idiot around them, all macho and manly. It was amusing to watching sometimes but right now she could feel herself getting annoyed at his antics as well. 

But the twins could handle themselves, and if she had to miss Sazed getting his ass whooped so be it. She and Magnus had a job to do and it was finding an alternative exit. They made their way to the staircase that would lead them to the first floor of the department store. The twins didn’t venture down there as much, they’d encountered a few zombies their first time and had run instead of risking making noise to kill them. Luckily the zombies hadn’t been able to come up the stairs so they’d been able to come up through the fire escape and scavenge for things on the upper two floors which was more than enough. 

Lucretia wasn’t scared to face the zombies though, well that may have been a lie. She was still terrified of them but she’d gotten pretty used to killing them. She used a long staff, a good hit to the head could usually kill them without letting them get too close. And this time she had Magnus and his axe, together they should be fine. Reaching the end of the staircase Lucretia could see that 3 zombies had already heard them coming. One had made it up 5 stairs but seemed to be having trouble climbing higher, another one lay on the floor, having fallen trying to climb. The third stood facing them, unable to climb even the first step. They could do this, it was 3 of them they’d be fine. 

“I’ll the the standing ones, your staff would work best for the dude on the floor” Magnus said. Lucretia nodded, that was their safest bet. Without trouble Magnus rushed forward and gave the first zombie a solid bonk on the head, it fell backwards and crumpled on the floor. Lucretia hurried ahead and put the end of her staff through the head of the one on the ground. She turned and started back up the stairs but felt cold hands grab her hair and pull her backwards. The third zombie had moved fast, faster than any she’d encountered before. Upon closer inspection it looked newer as well. She tried to work her was out of its grip but it held tight. She screamed without even meaning to, adrenaline rushed through her veins, she didn’t want to die. She heard as rush of wind to her left and suddenly there was an axe buried in the head of the zombie. The grip on her hair loosened and Magnus grabbed her arm to keep her upright as the zombie hit the floor with a sickening squelching sound. 

“Is she hurt, what happened?” Barry and Lup rushes down the stairs to meet up with Lucretia and Mangus, both shared matching looks of worry. Lucretia started to explain the zombies and but was cut off by Lup speaking again “that’s all good and dandy, but we’ve got a problem” following her gaze the rest of the group saw what she was talking about. The door to the department store was open and a steady stream of zombies was making their way inside drawn in by the sound of Lucretias screams. 

“Oh Shit” was all Magnus could say as they stood frozen in the spot “SHIT SHIT SHIT” he grabbed Lucretia and just about threw her over his shoulder knocking the wind out of her. They all started running up the stairs then, Lup pulling Barry along. Magnus dropped Lucretia down on her feet as soon as they reached the second floor and she could see that the zombies from downstairs were already making their way upstairs, although they were going slow. Magnus and Lup were trying to lug a shelf into the way to block them while Barry explained what had happened to the rest of their group. Once the shelf was in the way they made their way up to the third floor. Lucretia could only think to say one thing.

“We really are fucked now”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been thinking about trying to set up a posting schedule, my mental health hasn’t been great the past few months and I’m always feeling a little burnt out. But I do enjoy writing and it gives me a sense of accomplishment. So instead of a schedule I’m just going to say that I hope to put out at least one or two chapters a week for right now. How long their going to be really depends on how long the conflict or whatever takes to write. So enjoy reading!


	6. Can we go home now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang gets themselves into an even worse situation somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! There is some attempted gaslighting/manipulation in this chapter. Please proceed with caution.

The small group huddled together on the third, and final, floor of the department store. They were even more trouble now than they were before. The only way from here was up to the roof, which didn’t give them many options for escape. The twins claimed that the door to the department store had been shut all the other times they’d been in there. That started a small argument of who opened the door, Lucretia was able stop the argument pretty quickly by telling them about the fresher zombie she and Magnus had encountered earlier. 

“Poor dude, probably trying to find shelter here” Merle said “Shame we didn’t find him before he died, he could’ve joined us...really makes you wonder how many more people are still stuck in this city” the rest of the group was quiet regardless of weather or not they talked about to it was something they they all had though about at least once. What if there were people out there like them? Groups stuck in the city? People stuck alone? People stuck with their children? Surely there had to be some others. Magnus was proof that there were more people out there that they hadn’t found yet. 

They couldn’t help everyone though, they knew this logically. But knowing that you could have helped someone but couldn’t was a hard feeling under any circumstances. But dwelling on this wording do anything, they had to work on helping who they could, each other. They came up with a plan, Lucretia, Barry, Merle and Isaac would try to find a new way out of the Building, Magnus the twins and Sazed would stop any zombies on the second floor from making their way up to the third floor. The two groups split and went to do their respective tasks. 

The zombie fighting group ended up having their work cut out for them. There were at least a hundred zombies in the department store by now, and the shelf they’d placed in the stairway wasn’t going to hold them all off. They came up with a method of killing any zombies that got close enough and pushing them down the stairs. Sometimes this knocked the ones already on the stairs down but more often than not the body just got stuck under the feet of the other zombies. The steady stream coming in through The door wasn’t stopping though, it was like every zombie in the city heard Lucretia scream and decided to check it out. Or rather, they saw the zombies coming into the department store and decided to join the party. Whatever it was wasn’t going away. 

“This is all well and good for now, but there’s not possible way we can hold them off forever” Lup said while thrusting her hunting knife into the eye of a particularly nasty looking zombie. It feel to the floor with a thunk and was quickly replaced by another which Taako promptly took care of. 

“We’ve just gotta hope Merle and the rest find us a way out, I don’t fancy our chances of staying here” he said “specially with all these nasties coming up the stairs, they don’t usually do that” he jabbed another zombie in the head making gooey blood squirt out of the wound “yeesh, I think I’m gonna puke” he said trying to wipe it from his face with his sleeve. 

“You think we could make a run for it” Sazed asked “like we could go one at a time with the rest keeping the zombies back” none of the others seemed too keen on this idea though. 

“In theory yes, that would work” Lup said and Sazed’s face brightened “but it’s stupid and half-baked” his face feel just as quickly as it had brightened. “First of all, we’ll probably die. It’s that simple, see how many there are? And second IF we were to do that the last person would be screwed, they’d have no cover whatsoever” Taako nodded his agreement. 

“I’m with Lup, if we were going to run we’d be better as a group. Easier to watch each others backs and if it comes to the worst we have some meat shields” Magnus tried not to look appalled at this, he was fairly certain Taako was serious, or he just had a really dark sense of humor, or maybe both. That wasn’t what he needed to focus on though. The zombies that were threatening to munch on him and his newfound group were. 

“I’m not running. We’re all getting out of here” Magnus said. “The others are going to find us a way out” he tried to sound as confident as possible. Sure he didn’t know for sure that the others would find an exit, but he certainly hoped they would. After all businesses had to have some sort of escape for in case of a fire, at least he thought so. He didn’t know much about laws or building codes but that sounded right. 

“We could go now, just us” Sazed voice cut through all of the others thoughts “just the four of us, we’d probably be able to do it, and we wouldn’t have the others slowing us down” looking around he could see that the others were not down for this idea “come on” he pleaded “think about it, I know you two can run fast” he motioned towards the twins “and you” he pointed at Magnus “well you’re a tank, I saw you chopping down those zombies on the street. And I can beat them down too, the others well” he scoffed “they’re dead weight, we’ll be better without them.” 

“No” Magnus said and he looked to the twins. “We’re not leaving them. They’ll be screwed” he gave Sazed a stern look “Do what you want, but I’m staying” he turned to the the twins. 

“We’re with Mags” Taako said. He had his arms crossed and was staring Sazed down “how are you going to explain that to the rest of the group if we go back alone? How can you just leave them here to die?” Lup whacked down another zombie and Magnus scrambled to kill some of the ones that had started to pile up with they were talking. Their voices seemed to have worked the zombies up to a frenzy and they growled and snarled as they reached for the small group. 

“I don’t get it you took” Sazed said in a voice that was far quieter than before. “I heard you two talking a little bit ago, said you wanted to leave. Just the two of you and the kid? Where was your newfound compassion for the group then” the tension in the air was thick. “We could go now, just the 3 of us since the big man isn’t in” Sazed said “forget about the kid, he’s not even yours anyway. He’ll just slow us down. Think about it we could-“ 

“No” Taako cut him off “Don’t talk about Angus like that, I’m NOT abandoning him” Sazed seemed taken aback. 

“But you guys said-“ Lup cut him off this time. 

“We changed our minds. It was a one time idea, we ain’t leaveing now” she gave him a dirty look “though I’m starting to think that once we get back it might be time for you to leave” Sazed sputtered at this. “What” she said “you were so ready to leave now, when it’s dangerous. What’s so bad about leaving when it is. Just admit it, you’re a coward. You’re just looking for an easy way out.” 

“You need me” Sazed’s voice took on a vicious tone “you need me and you know it” Magnus tried to focus his energy in killing the zombies that pushed their way against the shelf. The other 3 had stopped altogether, too focused on their fight. It was getting overwhelming, the zombies were piling up faster than he could kill them and he could feel that the shelf was one step away from falling over. 

“Guys could I get a little help here” he tried to get their attention but was spoken over by Sazed. 

“I protect you two, you’re weak you need someone like me. Someone to protect you. I can keep you safe if you come with me. You don’t have that in this group. You NEED me, you just don’t know it” 

“You’re delusional” Taako spat at him “you really think you protect us? Hell, we end up saving your ass half the the time” 

“Guys really this thing isn’t going to hold” Magnus tried to get their attention again, but once again was talked over. 

“Once we get back you’re going to keep your slimey ass away from me, my sister and our boy” Taako continued, his voice rising with every word. Lup stood stoically by her brother, daring Sazed to make a move “actually why don’t you do the whole group a favor and keep your slimey ass away from the whole group? Go ahead and leave, I promise we won’t miss you half as much as you seen to think we will” 

Magnus tried to keep the shelf upright, but the lack of help wasn’t helping. He could feel in leaning forward, maybe he could wedge himself under it to keep it up he though to himself while swinging railsplitter down on a rotted hand. But that wouldn’t work, he’d be pinned down the moment it fell and he doubted the twins would be able to help lift it off, and he doubted Sazed would be willing to help. This was his last chance “GUYS THE SHELFS GONNA FALL” he yelled. But it was too late, even as Taako and Lup rushed to help him hold it up it still slipped further and further down. Zombies were starting to pour into the third floor. Magnus hopes  
Against all odds that Sazed would wise up and start killing them before they were able to react the others. But the man stayed frozen in fear a few feet away from them, not doing anything to help. 

“We’ve gotta go” Lup yelled over the noise of the zombies “we can’t hold it” Magnus grunted his approval and they rushed forwards, the self collapsing the rest of the way in their wake. As a group they tried to rush up the stairs to the third floor to warn the rest of the group. The four of them sprinted up the stairs to the third floor. There was no time for them to block off the stairway from the zombies though, much to their dismay. Barry and Isaac were on the floor already and they look up in surprise as Magnus nearly ran into them. 

“I though you guys were-“ Isaac started but was cut off almost immediately. 

“Run, no time to explain” Magnus puffed out. They got the message and joined them as they looked for the last two members of their group. 

“Lucretia and Merle?” Lup asked “where’d they get to” she said while breathing hard. 

“The roof” Barry answered. They could hear some of the zombies mounting the stairs behind them. “There’s a door to the roof” he said through labored breathes “we can block off any of the zombies from reaching us” 

“Great idea” Taako said “but first we have to GET to the roof. That doors no use if we get chomped on down here” 

The staircase to the roof wasn’t far away though and they were able to safely reach it before any zombies could reach them. Merle and Lucretia were just where like Barry had said. They were very surprised to see the rest but after being told what was going on they launched into action and helped shut the door. There was no way for them to lock it though and they couldn’t find anything to block it with. 

“Things just keep getting better don’t they?” Sazed snarked “and I wonder whoses fault that is” he gave a pointed look to Magnus. 

“Just stop running your mouth for this once please” Lup snapped. “The shelf falling was your fault anyways” she crumbled under her breath loud enough for jleveryone to hear. Sazed looked like he wanted to say something back to her but before he could Barry spoke. 

“Please tell me you guys found us a way out” she said to Merle and Lucretia. The two shared a worried look before Merle started explaining. 

“I mean...we did. In theory” 

“But I get a feeling some of you aren’t going to like it” Lucretia finished. 

“Just tell us and get it over with” Taako said. His voice was tinged with the slightest hint of panic. 

“Yeah we’re good as dead up here, at this point anything is super fucking great” Lup added. 

“Ok, come over here I’ll show you” Lucretia said motioning the group over to the edge of the building. It looked down into a narrow alley below, not even wide enough for a car to fit through. Right across was the roof of another building just over 5 feet away. 

“Ok Luce...I’m not seeing any ladders” Barry said nervously. 

“That’s because there aren’t any” Lucretia said “we aren’t climbing down...we’re jumping across” she said, pointing to the other building. 

“Well shit” Magnus said in disbelief “I hope none of you are afraid of heights” he joked, looked at the scared faces that surrounded him. Of course they had to jump, this day really couldn’t get any worse could it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got away from me, it ended up way longer than it was gonna...oops. But the last one was shorter than normal so it evens out? Maybe?   
> Also I’m sure you might be getting bored of the whole department store arc thing, but I promise this is the last chapter based solely there. We get to catch up with everyone else next chapter.


	7. Home at last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get stuck even more (yep it’s possible) and some funky drama happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stuck in the city arc is finally done. It feels like it dragged on forever (to write at least) but yeah, now we’re gonna get to some more of that fun ~plot~ stuff.

“You cannot be serious” Taako’s voice was tinged with even more panic than before. “Nuh uh, Taako’s good out here. I’m good in my nice non-pancake form” he crossed his arms defiantly. 

“Bro-bro, we’ve got no other choice” Lup said “besides it’s like a baby jump. Babies could jump that we’ll all be fine” Taako wasn’t going to budge though. 

“Well I’m doing it” Isaac said “I’ll test it out, go over and try and find a way down” no one argued but the tension was thick in the air. 

“I’ll join you” Lucretia said “it was my idea anyway” again no one argued. She lined herself up at the edge of the roof. The jump seemed longer now that she was ready to make it. Logically she knew it was short, nothing she wouldn’t be able to handle...probably. But it looked a mile long as she shifted her feet on the ledge. One wrong move and she’s be, as Taako said, a pancake. She readied herself to jump, it was now or never. If she didn’t jump first, no one would. She felt guilty, if only she hadn’t screamed and alerted the zombies. They be fine then, they could have closed the doors and been safe inside. No she was going to fix things, find a safe way out for everyone. It was her responsibility now. 

She bent her legs, swung her arms back and launched herself forward. She was weightless in the air. Her stomach was full of butterflies and she felt a sharp panic cut through her like a knife. She was going to die, she wasn’t going to make it. She would fall and hit the ground and splat, and it would hurt, it would hurt so bad. And then with a thud her feet hit the other side and she stumbled forward and hit her knees on the ground. 

A flare of pain shot through her feet and knees, she was pretty sure at least one of her knees was bleeding as well, but she was alive. She turned a gave a triumphant grin to the rest of the group, she’d been right. They had a new chance of escape now, They could make it out. Everyone else still looked a little uneasy about jumping, but seeing her make it seemed to have quelled most of the their fears. Soon Isaac had jumped over to the other side with no issues with Barry following soon after. Merle had a little bit of trouble being shorter than everyone else. Magnus suggested trying to throw him over, an idea that was shut down almost immediately. That seemed like a sure fire way to kill the man. Instead she suggested having the people on her side try to grab him and catch him if he didn’t make it form whatever reason, to which he agreed. 

Again anxiety burned in her stomach, being in charge of another persons life was terrifying. Merle readied himself  
And jumped, surprisingly he made it, landing right on the edge Lucretia grabbed his arm as soon as it was within reach. She didn’t want to risk him falling. They were halfway there she thought, they’d come this far the worst was over. The twins were going to jump next, and they wanted to jump together. She was sure They could handle themselves but it still made her nervous, but what didn’t these days. She couldn’t help but think though that if one of them slipped or didn’t make it the other would fall with them, but maybe that’s what they wanted? She didn’t know them that well, but she had a feeling they wouldn’t know how to go on without each other. Hell maybe that was their plan, make it or die together trying. She didn’t know, all she did know was that she was there to catch them if things went wrong. 

They lined up at the edge of the first building just like everyone else had. The door to the roof gave a clatter and the group exchanged grim looks. It wasn’t going to hold much longer by the sounds of it, hopefully they’d all make it over to the new building by the time it broke open. The twins bent and jumped off. Lucretia wasn’t sure why she’d worried, they’d jumped hard and she got the feeling that maybe they’d done something like this before. She made a mental note to ask them sometime later when they were back at camp. They flew almost in slow motion to her, Lup’s feet hit down first well over the edge of the building, Taako’s should have hit down only a few seconds after she though but they never did. Lup was pulled back by his hand and Barry rushes to grab her around the waist and brake himself she she didn’t topple off the edge. For a moment Lucretia thought that maybe Taako had fallen, not not jumped hard enough. 

“Let him go” she heard Magnus scream, she looked over to the other side of the gap and saw that Taako had in fact not fallen, Sazed had pulled him backwards. He was wriggling as he hung in between the buildings Trying desperately to break Sazed’s grip on his wrist. One of his hands was still clutched in both of Lup’s hands but she too was being pulled closer to the ledge by the weight of Taako’s body and the force of Sazed’s pulls. If she didn’t let go, she’d go over the edge too, then they’d both fall. She could hear Magnus yelling at Sazed and she saw that he was also trying to break Sazed’s grip, but the other man was budging. 

“Lulu, Lulu pull me up. I’m slipping, oh god I’m gonna fall and die and..” Taako rambled frantically. Lup and Barry both tried as hard as they could to pull him over to their side but Sazed’s grip was tight. He was yelling something about how Taako would be better if with him and not the rest of the group but no one was paying him any mind, like her they all thought it was a load of bullshit. 

“Let my brother go you crazy asshole” Lup yelled, still trying to pull her brother up to safety “You’re going to kill him” her voice, much like Taako’s, was also thick with panic. 

“Magnus” Lucretia yelled across as Isaac and Merle both rushed to grab onto Lup too, she was on the verge of toppling over the edge and each time Sazed tugged on Taako’s arm she inches closer to falling. “Magnus make him let go” she yelled, he looked over and nodded. 

The door to the roof gave another rattle, it was one it’s last legs, it wouldn’t make it that much longer. Magnus was fighting a losing battle though, he was bigger and strong than Sazed but pushing him risked making Taako fall. As the seconds rolled by Lucretia became more and more scared that Magnus wouldn’t be able to break Sazed’s grip, or that the door would break and all tree would be eaten alive. Magnus managed to pull Taako almost all the way over to his side of the building, by this point Lup was leaning almost halfway over herself, not willing to let go of her brothers hand. Lucretia rushed over and grabbed onto her too, but they wouldn’t be able to hold her forever. She wondered breifly if it would be better for her to let go of Taako, but then again that would leave his life in Sazed’s hands, and Sazed had already proved himself to be untrustworthy. But now Magnus had a grip on Taako’s wrist too, maybe they could risk letting go, that is if she could convince Lup. 

“Magnus do you have him” she yelled over. 

“Yeah I’ve got him” he replied “but this fucker won’t let go” Sazed was still ranting and raving about who knows what now willing to let go. Taako was also still rambling, he was no doubt scared as shit right now Lucretia thought, she’d definitely be if she was the one stuck between two buildings” 

“Lup, hear me out, you need to let go of him” Lucretia started but she may as well have been talking to a well. 

“He’s my brother I’m not letting go” she said as she slipped even further off the edge. 

“Magnus has him, you’re going to fall over if you keep holding on” she pleaded. Faintly almost as if it was in the background the door to the roof Magnus and Sazed were on gave a sickening crunch. They only had minutes now until the roof was full of zombies looking for their next meal. 

“Lup please” Barry started pleading with her “if you fall too there’s no guarantee Magnus can support both of your weight” but she still wasn’t willing to budge, if anything Lucretia though she was holding on tighter, like she was scared they were going to try and pry Taako’s fingers from hers. 

“Look kid” Merle started “Magnus has him, you’re making this harder. Plus, you’re hurting him can’t you tell?” He asked “you’re damn near pulling his arm off” 

“THAT ASSHOLE IS THE ONE HURTING MY BROTHER” Lup exploded “I’LL FUCKING KILL HIM” 

The door burst open and zombies started to spill over onto the the roof of the other side. Their time was up. Magnus seemed to sense this too “just let go, you’re gonna get us all killed” but once again Sazed refused. Magnus didn’t stop though, with the hand that wasn’t holding onto Taako’s he raised his axe and swung it down in one moment. For a moment it seemed like Taako was afraid his hand was about to be cut off and he screamed. But as it turned out it was Sazed’s hand Magnus had been aiming for. Sazed let out a scream as his hand was severed from the rest of his arm. Stumbled backwards towards the group of zombies that were almost upon them. Lucretia knew then that it was now or never. 

“Hold her tight” she said to Barry he grunted his acknowledgment and Lucretia grabbed Lup’s Arms and pulled hard. She struggled of course but one Barry started pulling backwards Isaac and Merle got the memo and started pulling too. She could hear Taako yelping in pain as his arm was pulled on and then they were falling backwards a group landing hard. Somewhere in the shuffle Lucretia had been head butted in the nose and she could feel blood dripping down her lip and chin. Lup was enraged and she turned on all of them screaming. 

“YOU KILLED MY BROTHER, YOU KILLED HIM” but as Barry soon pointed out Taako was no dead. Magnus had caught him and he now had him hoisted over his shoulder, Sazed had fled to the other side of the building and he’d taken a portion of the zombies with him. Lucretia wondered if they were drawn to the smell of blood. Taako and Magnus were still in danger the nearest zombie was only a couple feel away there was no way they’d both be able to jump across in that timeframe. 

But Magnus just adjudged his grip on Taako and held him tight as he wound up and jumped over still holding him. Taako screamed the whole time but they both landed safely and tumbled onto the pile that was their group. There was a few seconds of confusion as they all tried to work themselves apart and upright. Both of the twins were sobbing by now and Merle was groaning in pain, he’d ended up at the bottom of the pile. But they were all alive and well, except Sazed of course Lucretia had no idea if he was even still alive but she couldn’t bring herself to care. If he got killed that was his own damn fault, he’d almost gotten Taako and Magnus killed as well, he deserved whatever happened to him. 

The twins were having a tearful reunion as they embraced and cried into each other’s shoulders. They were safe for now though, the zombies couldn’t get to them over here. Even after they were untangled they sat in silence, all intentionally not facing the building they’d just come from. 

“You guys better not tell Ango any of this” Taako said finally breaking the silence “I can’t have him thinking I’m weak or anything” Lucretia let out a dry laugh and she could hear Barry do the same. Of course Taako would get to be funny after he nearly died, it was in character at least, she thought to herself. 

“No one thinks you’re weak” Magnus replied “if anything I’d say you’re very brave” but Taako dismissed him with a wave of his hand. 

“It’s called a sense of humor kemosabe, you should get yourself one” Magnus flushes a little at this but still let out a good spirited laugh “now how do we get down off of this god forsaken roof. Taako’s had his fill of rooftops for like...forever” 

After minimal searching they discovered that there was a fire escape into a back alley that was devoid of zombies on the opposite end of the building. It was already down and was just what they needed. They lowered their voices as they crept down as quietly as possible, but it seemed that all zombies in the general area had started pouring into the department store they’d just left. They were able to creep their way out of the city. Only having to kill zombies a few times when they got caught, but even then it was only one or too. They were able to make their way out of the city and make the short walk back to the car they’d come in. 

After loading in, Merle started the engine and started driving them back “so, now might not be the time but we need to talk about this” he said “how do we explain why Sazed isn’t here and why we have this dude instead” to gestured at Magnus. 

“Just tell everyone he is Sazed” Lup grumbled “or tell the truth and say the bastard got himself killed and we picked up a stray” she turned to Magnus “no offense of course, you’re loads better than he was anyway” 

“None taken” Magnus said, the more sheepishly “so you guys are going to let me stay with your group? For real” 

Without a beat Taako replied with “you basically saved my life dude, pretty sure it’s bad manners to leave you on your own” Magnus smiled wide at this. It may not have been what he was looking for when he came to the city, but he’d found something to be apart of, and in this world that was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up very long, but brevity is a skill I do not possess. But on a good note, Sazed has been written out! And I finally get to move on from this arc thing and write some new characters.


	8. Make yourself at home my dude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus comes back the camp and we learn a little bit about how they’d managed the last month or so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No real drama this chapter, I think we all needed a little break from that.

“So...where exactly is this camp of yours” Magnus asked the car full of his new friends? Where they friends? He wasn’t even sure, a lot had happened today and his brain felt like it was fried. He wanted nothing more than to take a nap for like...a million years. Gods he hoped these people had a bed he could use, or a sleeping bag, or even a patch of dirt. Come to think of it, he was really tired, a hungry, and sore. Not a great combination if you asked him. 

The car was silent for a moment and Magnus started to get a little worried, these people did say they had a camp right? Or maybe he came up with that on his own? He wasn’t sure but he certainly hoped they had somewhere. “It’s not actually a camp” Merle said “more like a field that we camp out in. I’ll be the first to admit it’s a little underwhelming” he let out a dry laugh. 

“Don’t sell yourself short man” Taako interrupted “it’s the fucking end of the world, there’s no need to be all humble. We’ve a place, some cars, some tents. It’s the best we could ask for right now” Magnus felt relief at this. So they did have a camp, sort of. But that sounded perfect. He’d stay with them, if they let him of course. A little voice in the back of his head nagged at him though ‘what about Carry, Killian and Noelle?’ He wasn’t about to lie, he missed them. Maybe he’d head back, maybe. He couldn’t stay focused on that for long, the other people in the car had continued talking. 

“So we mostly sleep in tents” Lucretia was saying “we’ve got 4, Isaac Jack and June use one of them, Merle and his family one of the others, me and Barry share one and Sazed uses..used the other. I guess you could probably use his? I mean it’s small but” 

“That’s perfect, I’m not picky” Magnus said. Hearing her stumble on her words had really made things clear to him. A man had died, he may have been a jerk and a coward, and he may have almost gotten them all killed but did he really deserve to die for that? And was it Magnus’s fault? He had chopped the mans hand off, but Taako was going to fall! He wanted to talk with someone, anyone about his moral dilemma, but he didn’t really know these people that well, how would they react? He’d file that thought away for later, you know, like every other thought he’d had within the last 30 minutes. “What where do the twins sleep” he asked “you didn’t mention them for any of the tents” 

“In the camper baby” Lup answered smoothly “don’t get your hopes up though, it’s packed enough as it is with me Koko the kid and capnport” at his confused look she answered “that’s what we call Davenport, he owns the camper, Starblaster’s what he calls it.” 

“We’re lucky he’s still letting us crash there after all the shit we put him through” Taako quipped. 

“He’s on it for our cooking” Lup said and Magnus’s stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl. Just the mention of food and cooking had him feeling just how hungry he really was. He crossed his arms over his stomach hoping it would muffle the sound but the damage was done “you hungry man” Lup asked him. 

“Yeah, haven’t eaten since morning” he said “I kinda forgot about it while we were running around I guess” she nodded at this. 

“Sounds about right, it do be like that.” She paused in thought for a moment “we’ll cook you something good tonight, kinda owe you for saving my baby bro” 

“I’m not the baby” Taako grumbled “and she’s right well cook you that good shit, as good as possible when all the ingredients are canned at least” he huffed. 

“That sounds great, I haven’t had real cooking since before this even happened” Taako looked scandalized at this. 

“I knew it! You’re one of those guys that thinks that reheated pasta is a good meal! Well fuck that, you’re eating real food today!” Magnus laughed, Taako wasn’t exactly wrong. He wasn’t the pickiest eater to begin with. And after moving out and living on his own he learned to eat whatever came his way, reheated pasta or not. 

They chartered among themselves for the rest of the ride, of the conversations weren’t very deep. Magnus learned how they’d become a group. I’m turn he told them about how he’d been managed to be in a hospital for the start of the apocalypse, they got a good laugh out of this. Once he got to talking about Carrey and the small group in his hometown the conversation lulled Though. “I only came here because I had family in the city” he said “I almost think I should have stayed with them, no offense to you guys of course” the rest of the group nodded and took in his words. 

“You know we could send some people over to get them and see if they wanna join up with us” Lucretia said “I get the feeling there’s not a ton of us living people left anymore so sticking together would be best for us” and Magnus agreed, his heart felt lighter already bringing his old group and this new group together would be one of the best things to happen since this whole apocalypse started. He just knew they’d all get along. 

In what felt like no time at all they’d reached the campsite, it really was just outside of the city like they’d said. It was a small clearing with a few cars, a camper and an assortment of tents all centered around a campfire with some folding chairs scattered around it. 4 children started running up to the car the moment they were able to see it through the trees. One little girl ran up and hugged Isaac and tugged him off towards where another man stood waiting for them. Two dwarven kids ran up to Merle, the smaller nearly tackling him in a hug and the last kid, a little human boy, ran up to the twins. In the rush to greet the rest of the group no one seemed to have noticed Magnus or the lack of Sazed. That is until someone spoke. 

“And who is this” Magnus turned to see a short gnome with red-orange hair looking at him. “And where’s Sazed?” He asked as well. Magnus was at a loss for words, how do you explain they you maybe sort of got someone killed by cutting of their hand, but that it’s ok because you did it to save one of the other group members? Yeah that sounded bad. Lucretia stepped in to aid him though. 

“This is Magnus, he helped us in the city and we told him he could join us” She said. 

The gnome raised an eyebrow “without asking the rest of the group first” He said “and you still haven’t told us where Sazed is” 

“He’s dead” Taako was speaking now. That statement got gasps from more than a few of the people who had not been in the city “stupid bastard nearly got me killed and Mags here stepped in and helped me. Sazed got himself killed, that’s all there is to it” Magnus felt immensely grateful to both Taako and Lucretia for stranded up for him to their leader? He was pretty sure this man was their leader. 

“Davenport, all of us who were there also agreed to let Magnus in” Merle piped up “Lucretia did not make this decision on her own” Davenport seemed to consider this. 

“Alright, I wasn’t going to turn him away. But next time we discuss things like this as a group, got it” the small crowd gave their agreement and slowly started dispersing. Before Magnus could wander off though Merle called him the twins and Lucretia over to him. For a second Magnus was a little confused but Merle cleared things up pretty quickly. 

“Now I’m no medical expert, but I’ve got a little training. You 4 seemed to take the worst of the damage during that whole scuffle and I want to get you checked out, especially you Taako” 

“That you I’m flattered” Taako grumbled as Merle not so delicately started examining his arms and shoulders. 

“You’ve got some bruises on both wrists kid and your gonna be sore for a while but somehow you managed not to break anything. How you did that I don’t know but you’re free to go. And Lup, don’t let him over exert himself it’ll just make the healing take longer.” He then checked out both Lup and Lucretia both of whom only had scratches and bruises but where otherwise fine. Finally he moved onto Magnus. 

“You’re pretty good too kid, you’ve got a few scratches but nothing that needs stitches. I swear kids theses days are immune to anything” he grumbled good spiritedly “well I need to go spend some time with my kids, you’re on your own now” he said as he left Magnus one his own. And so Magnus wandered around the camp. He was shown to the tent that had once been used by Sazed. It was a small one person thing, apparently Davenport had had it in his camper and was letting Sazed use it as he didn’t have one of his own. Like many of the other people here he’d escaped with little more than the clothes on his back. But laying down in the small tent Magnus felt at peace. He was safe, he was surrounded by some new people and he was going to eat some ‘real food’ tonight in the twins words. Things were going great for him. 

——————————————————————————-

After getting checked out the twins had made their way back towards Davenport camper. Angus was waiting for them before they could even make it all the way there. 

“You said you were going to be careful! You said it was safe!” He exclaimed “but Mr. Taako almost died! That doesn’t sound safe at all to me!” 

“Relaxe kid, it’s all good now. And don’t call me Mr. Taako. I’m not an old man just Taako is fine” but Angus made no indication that he’d even heard Taako speak. 

“And this is why we shouldn’t even go to the city, we have all we need here for right now don’t we! Someone just DIED in the city and more people could too! One of you two could died and then...” 

“And then what pumpkin” Taako asked concern seeping into his voice. Angus was being uncharacteristically emotional right now, it felt...wrong. 

“Well if something happened to you two I’d be alone again” Angus said, looking down. His voice was soft, barely over a whisper. “My grandpa is...gone” he said, his voice breaking when he mentioned his grandpa. He was unwilling to talk about him, and Taako and Lup weren’t keen to press him about it. They knew all too well what it was like to lose someone you loved. It’s not something Angus would just get over. “If you two die I’ll have nobody” he said with a sniffle. 

Acting on instinct Taako wrapped him in his arms, and Lup circled around him and hugged him from behind. “Don’t talk like that pumpkin, newsflash me and Lulu ain’t dying anytime soon. You’ve got nothing to worry about baby” he tried to make his voice sound confident last thing he needed was to let the kid know how scared he really was. The incident with Sazed had really put things in perspective for him. He would have died if Magnus had been any slower with cutting of Sazed’s hand, or if he hadn’t been able to get a grip on his arm, or if Lup had let go, or for any other number of reasons. Truth be told he was scared. Really scared. But they didn’t mean that Angus had to be scared too. 

“And Ango you know that if anything happened to us the rest of this group would take care of you. You wouldn’t be alone, you’d NEVER be alone”Lup said. Angus gave a little sob.

“Ok Miss Lup, Mr. Taako” he said as he pulled away and wiped the tears and snot off his face. “I wasn’t thinking straight” 

“I never think straight” Taako said automatically. 

“Yes I know becuase you’re gay” Angus said. He’d stopped crying by now. “You’ve used that joke 7 times by now.” Lup laughed at this but Taako just pouted. 

“My jokes are hilarious and you know it” he quipped. “If I’d know I was going to aquire a children I would have come up with more dad jokes” 

“Dad jokes?” Angus asked incredulously “are you saying you’re my dad” 

Taako panicked. He wasn’t this kids dad. At least he didn’t think so. “No, it’s more like a glorified baby sitter. I don’t have the children papers you need to be a dad” 

“Adoption papers” Angus asked sounding even more exasperated “do you mean adoption papers” 

“That’s the one pumpkin.” Taako answered. Then an idea dawned on him “HEY LUP WE SHOULD MAKE ADOPTION PAPERS FOR ANGO” he said in a rushed tone “for baby sitters of course” he said quickly. 

“Ok but what for bro bro” Lup asked. 

“To claim ownership of our boy. And we can make Merle or something sign it and say he’ll take over caring for our boy if we kick it” he said, then softer “would that make you feel better buddy. About being alone if we die?” Angus raised an eyebrow. 

“You’re still doing this even if I say no though” he asked.

“Absolutely right” Lup said “now you’re goi n to help us make dinner. We’re eating good tonight. Let’s make it a party baby” Angus smiled wide. The traces of tears on his cheeks were almost dried by now. 

“Ok let’s go then.” And they did. Taako and Lup instructing Angus and making a ‘baller meal’ as they phrased it. Today was not a day to worry about death. Today they just wanted to celebrate and enjoy their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had like half of this written then it accidentally deleted and That makes me sad. I could t fully recreate what I’d already wrote but we got here so, it all worked out in the end.


	9. Nothing good shall stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit goes down at camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has just hit me how long this fic is actually going to be. Not complaining though, it is helping me work on my not-so-great writing capabilities.

Dinner was a quiet affair within the camp. They chatted and entertained each other with stories of what they did before the world went to shit. Magnus the Twins and Lucretia were all either fresh out of school or just finishing it. Barry has worked at a lab and Merle had been a nurse and Sunday school teacher. Davenport had travelled in the Starblaster and Jack and Isaac had been shérifs. Everyone was so very average, there was nothing that indicated that any of them were survivalists (except of course Davenport) their survival had been purely luck based. The subject of Sazed’s demise was avoided like the plauge. Turns out he was the first of this small group to die, no one knew quite what to say. He had to family to comfort, no close friends to grieve him. The most they could think to do was set up a small memorial for him, they had nothing to bury of course but hey, it’s the attempt that counts right? 

Dinner was a thick beef and vegetable stew which was prepared by Taako and Lup with the help of Angus. Like all their other food it was delicious. But things could t stay peaceful forever. 

“I know this food is baller and all but we’re running into a bit of a food related problem” Taako breeched the subject. “We’re running out. We’ve got maybe 3ish weeks left if we keep rationing the way we do” no one seemed surprised. It was distressing but most of them had been expecting it. Most of them had brought food with them but it wasn’t a ton, and some of them had been lucky to escape at all. Even with the twins helping to stretch the food it wasn’t going to last forever. Even the runs to the city had yielded very little food, and after the disaster that was the last run no one was keen to go back. 

“So what do you guys think we should do about it” Lup asked “we’ve gotta come to a decision together. You know, groups stuff” she continued. 

“Lup and I think we should move camp” Taako continued his sisters statement. “There’s not much game to catch around here and we’ve mostly got all we can from this side of the city” 

“I think we should stay here” Hecuba said. The air grew tense. No one wanted a fight but everyone wanted their voices heard “we’ve been fine here so far. We need to stay close to the city so that we can be found once they clear this up. 3 weeks is plenty of time. We’re bound to get help any day now” 

This had been an argument point for the past few weeks. The group seemed almost evenly split, half though help was going to come for them at any minute the other was convinced that the world had ended and they were all on their own. 

“We don’t even know for sure that help is coming” Lucretia said softly “maybe the twins are right, we’ll still be by the city...” Lucretia didn’t think help was coming. There’d been no messages on the radio since the announcement that Phandolin was being turned into a safe Haven. It was highly unlikely that anyone was coming to save them. 

“Come now guys let’s not fight” Merle said. He was a peaceful man, never one to condone any kind of fighting. “How’s about we give everyone the night to sleep on it. We’ll talk it over during breakfast” the air was still tense but no one argued. If Merle was honest he agreed with Taako and Lup. He didn’t want to upset Hecuba or his kids though so the only one who knew he felt this was Davenport. Merle felt like he could trust the other man despite only knowing him for a short while. In fact he felt the same way about the twins, Lucretia and Barry and surprisingly Magnus as well. They’d all proved themselves to be caring people and willing to help even if their outward actions didn’t seem like it. They were a good group, it’s just a shame they had to meet under these circumstances. 

Time passed one and the kids were sent to bed it was getting colder as it got closer to winter. Taako thought briefly of the book tucked away in the bottom of his bag. He’d picked it up on a whim at the store earlier, before they’d been terrorized by zombies. Angus liked books and candlenights was coming up soon. Would it be too sappy if he gave it to the kid then? It’s not like he’d be getting any other presents though. God he hoped this kid knew the truth about Santa, he didn’t want to the bearer of bad news. 

Eventually it was late into the night and everyone was ready to turn it in. They all wished each other a good night and headed to their sleeping arrangements. They were all just about there when a scream broke the silence of the night. Whipping around the group could see why. A group of zombies had poured into the camp unheard by all of them. One had grabbed Jack and sunk its jagged teeth into his shoulder, tearing out a chunk of flesh. He screamed in pain and fear and more swarmed towards him. Isaac was yelling and trying to pull them from his friend, but he was unarmed, all of them were. Save Magnus who had a handgun and rail splitter. It took a split second for him to come a decision. He shoved the gun towards Lucretia ignoring her cry of “I don’t know how to use this” she’d figure it out he thought. He couldn’t use both weapons at once it was better off in her hands. Internally he cursed himself for not having given out the rest of the guns. And then he rushed in. 

The twins and Davenport seemed to have similar ideas they rushed to grab their weapons, two spear like sticks for the twins and a double barrel shotgun for Davenport. They rushed in next to Magnus and started helping him mow down the zombies. It was too late to save Jack. Magnus hoped he’d already died as morbid as that sounded. He’d be in pain if he hadn’t and Magnus didn’t want to think about that. Right now all he wanted to think about was splitting the skulls of as many zombies as he possibly could. Taako and Lup had joined him on either side and they covered him, and likewise he covered them. He heard a shot ring out and then another. It would seem that Lucretia had figured out how to use the gun he’d given her and Davenport was firing his. He just hoped this didn’t draw more of the zombies.

Merle Hecuba and Barry were working on rounding up the children and getting them into the camper. They’d be safest there. It was going well until June noticed that her dad was missing. 

“Where’s my dad” the little girl asked “where is he” her voice dripped with panic and she stopped walking. “Where.is.he” she demanded. 

“Keep taking your kids the camper I’ll handle this” Barry said to Merle and Hecuba. He couldn’t handle this though. How do you tell a kid their dad just got utterly devoured by zombies? Trick is that you don’t. “Your dad told us to keep you safe” he said praying that no zombies would try to attack them while they were on their own. He couldn’t fight back, he knew he couldn’t. “Just get in the camper with the other kids please” from home ahead he heard another scream and saw that a zombie had grabbed Hecuba and pulled her down. He rushed forward, June’s hand gripped tightly in his own. But it was too late, the zombie bit into Hecubas neck and she screamed as her blood spurted everywhere. To Barry it seemed like everyone was screaming, June, Mavis, Mookie, Merle, even himself. He had to get June into the camper though. That’s the mantra he repeated In his head. Save her, keep her safe. 

But that proved more difficult than it should have. The path they’d been taking had been blocked off by a group of zombies...which were eating Hecuba. Yeah he wasn’t forgetting that image anytime soon. At least when Sazed died he hadn’t witnessed it firsthand. It was gruesome and terrifying. But no that way wouldn’t work. They’d have to go around them in the woods. He wasn’t keen on the idea but the whole camp seemed to be flooded with zombies. He just had to hope there were none in the trees. 

Steering June towards them he started running, she following him she was sobbing and hiccuping. Barry wished he knew how to comfort children, but social skills had never been his strong point and he had no idea how children worked. The sooner he got her safe and on the Starblaster the better. He ran blindly through the trees, it was dark and the whole forest seemed like an obstacle course. They stumbled over roots and avoided low hanging branches. The camper wasn’t too far away they had to be almost there. But nothing good can last. Barry tripped and fell over a particularly nasty root. In doing so he let go of June’s hand. His ankle felt like it had twisted, just his luck right? He sat up shakily. He couldn’t stop now, not while they were so close to the camper. 

He could still head the campsite and the sounds of the zombies and the occasional gunshot. The growling noise seemed to be getting closer? Why was it getting closer? Unless....

A weight hit Barry from the side, a decaying corpse pushed on his side, he barely was able to catch it by the shoulders and stop it form sinking its rotting teeth into his shoulder. June screamed and Barry saw her run off into the woods in fear. She was running away from the camper though he thought with a sinking feeling. The zombie snapped it’s horrible jaws. His hands felt like they were pressing into the rancid flesh of its shoulders. He felt stringy matted hair brush his cheek. He could smell the breath of the thing, a smell like rotting meat and spoiled milk. It made him retch. He could feel dirty fingernails scratching at his chest and sides. This thing wanted to eat him, and if it kept up it would. Barry wasn’t a strong man, he couldn’t hold it off forever. So he took a risk “HELP, SOMEONE” he yelled. He just had to hope his yelling wouldn’t attract anymore of the zombies. He was having trouble holding off just one of them, he didn’t think he could hold off anymore. 

Footsteps approached where he lay trapped, they sounded human, god he hoped they were human. In an instant the weight in his body was lifted and he saw Lup thrust her spear through its head. She grabbed his arm and pulled him up. Even the slightest weight on his ankle had him wincing, it was almost certainly twisted. She started lugging him back towards the camp. “Wait” he wheezed out “June was with me she ran that way” he pointed towards where she’d run off “we have to go help her, she’s probably lost” Lup looked conflicted. 

“Look Man, you’re in no condition to be running after her. After we clear up the camp we can send some people out after her. Doubt she can get far in the dark” begrudgingly Barry agreed. Lup was right, he couldn’t run like this, couldn’t seem to do anything right. He couldn’t even help save a little girl. They just had to hope she’d manage on her own for a little while. Lup helped him up and into the camper where he found the remaining children and Merle. Briefly he explained hat had happened. All of the kids were crying by now and hearing about June being lost alone in the woods only made them cry harder. If only he’d been stronger, Barry thought. Maybe shouldn’t wouldn’t be lost then. 

Outside the fight was dwindling to a stop. No new zombies were pouring into the camp anymore and picking off the ones that were already there was simple enough business. After they finished off the last one they stopped. It was too dark to see much of anything but the sun would be coming up soon. Those who were outside joined the rest in the camper. It was cramped but no one could complain. Some tried to sleep, some got lost in thought. It was a somber night, everyone was thinking about tomorrow. They’d some graves to dig, some friends to mourn, some people to find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops,,,I killed off some characters. I know this is walking dead themed so it has to happen but still. It’s not easy picking who had to die.


	10. When the chips are down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group mourns and makes decisions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve updated this, I apologize for the wait. I just needed to take a bit of a break from writing but I’m back now.

It was too dark out to look for June or try to recover the bodies of their fallen friends. The now smaller group could hear the sounds of more zombies mulling around outside of the cramped camper. They seemed not to know where the people from the camp outside had gone though, none banged on the doors or windows. The group was careful to keep the curtains pulled down over the window not willing to take any chances. 

Everyone was silent, not wanting to draw the attention of the zombies waiting just beyond the doors. No one slept well, the Starblaster while being roomy for an RV, was not designed to fit this many people. All the remaining kids and the twins were crammed on the bed the children dosed in and out of fitful sleep. The twins keeping watch over them. Every now and then one would wake from a nightmare and cry quietly, the twins would try their best to comfort them but it was little help. Davenport and Merle talked in hushed tones at the table. Magnus tried to sleep on the small bunk but he too wasn’t able to get more than a fitful sleep. Barry Lucretia and Isaac sat squished together on the small sofa, they were silent, all consumed in their own thoughts. 

By the next morning everyone was still tired and drained. It was like a dark cloud had fallen over the group, no one was able to conjure a smile. It wasn’t clear what they were to do. Obviously they had to go and look for June, she was just a child lost and alone in the woods. But where were they to look for her? They knew which way she’d run off when Barry got attacked, but she could be anywhere by now. She’d had a whole night to run around and and get herself more lost. They could hope that she’d be able to make her way back to the camp on her own, but deep down they knew that was unlikely. She was lost and alone, and they had to go find her. 

They came up with a plan. They’d split up into 3 groups. Two would go and comb the forest for any sign of the young girl, the third would stay back at the camp in case June made her way back on her own. The first group contained the twins and Lucretia, the second Davenport, Magnus and Isaac the last Merle Barry and the Children. Barry was in no state to walk around with his sprained ankle, no matter how hard he tried to argue. Merle didn’t want to be separated from his kids any more than he had too, they’d already lost one parent he wasn’t going to risk them losing another. Angus argued and begged Taako and Lup to let him join them but the group made the decision not to let him. No matter how smart he was he was still a child, it was too dangerous. 

The first day of searching yielded nothing more than a handful of partially decayed corpses and wrecked abandoned cars. The second day did the same. The groups Hope was draining. They couldn’t help but think that had she still been ok she’d have found her way back by now, or they’d have found at least a trace of her. So far they’d found nothing, no scraps of clothing, no dropped items no lost shoes, no clumps of hair, nothing. It was frustrating to say the least. On the third day they decided to ventured out as one big group instead of the two separate ones. They’d covered all the ground in the immediate area, this time they’d have to go out further from the camp then they’d ever gone before. A big group would be safer they’d thought, and safer meant that Angus would end to tag along...again. 

This time Taako let him, much to the dismay of the others. It would dangerous, there was no doubt about that. But still Taako was willing to let him come, Angus was strong he’d be able to handle this...hopefully. This search started the same as all the last they’d done. They traveled by foot for about a two and half miles and found all of nothing. They were getting to the place they’d stopped when searching the past few times. It was scary, it felt like they were leaving the realm of safety, like if they crossed into the next area they too would would get lost and be unable to find their way back. The bigger group was helpful, it was harder to feel lost when you were surrounded by your friends. 

They trekked for another mile or so until the found they first shred of hope in a long while, a discarded doll. Upon closer inspection it had belonged to June. She must have been carrying it with her when she’d left the tent all those nights ago. It brought the whole groups spirits up, enough even to convince them to split up again. She’d been there. They didn’t know when but SHE’D BEEN THERE. It was the biggest clue they’d had this whole time. Isaac, Lucretia, and Davenport went to the left where they thought they could hear running water. Perhaps they thought, little June had gone towards it after hearing the water. It was a land mark she’d be able to stick with. The other group comprising of the twins Magnus and Angus went right. Thinking that maybe she’d have gone that way. It was worth a try, they had to at least try, it was all they could do anymore. 

They split then, agreeing to meet back at the camp by nightfall. They debating agreeing to meet back at the same spot, but who knows how long it would take either group to do their searching? If only their stones of farspeech still worked, it would make thing a hell of a lot easier. 

The twins Magnus and Ango walked for an hour and found nothing. No signs of June and no zombies either, which was weird. Usually they found at least a few zombies wandering the woods aimlessly. But this time they found none, they didn’t know if they should be concerned or not about this fact. Was it bad that the zombies were missing? What did it mean? Angus asked the question on everyone’s mind “who made them leave” it had to be the work of another people they thought. Maybe there was another group in this area who was killing off al the zombies that dared venture into their terrain. They hadn’t met another group yet, would they be friendly? Or would they kill them the moment they laid eyes on them? They had so many questions and so few answers. It was so very frustrating. 

Lucretia group found a little more than the other at the beginning of their walk on the river bank. Once again there were no zombies, they like the other group found this strange and a little concerning. For a second they’d seen footprints and got excited, but upon closer examination they were far to big to belong to a little girl. The further they walked the more footprints they encountered, none of them though seemed to belong to a little girl. Their brief moment of hope was passing, why was there no sight of her? Had she gone this way at all? After a long while of walking they decided to turn around and try to meet back up with the other group. Hopefully they’d found something more useful. 

And that they had. Thought the other group would not find this out until that night when the whole of the group met up at camp. While walking they’d come across a packed dirt driveway, they’d followed it and found something miraculous. 

A farm stood on a handsome crop of land. It was surrounded by a heavy wooden fence, enough to keep out zombies. There were sprawling fields and large barns for what they could only guess were animals. Here and there a goat or chicken roamed free, it was a glorious sight. 

“We could use this!” Taako exclaimed. “It’s fucking huge! Think of all the room we’d have here! And a fence, those dead fuckers would have no way to get at us” 

“He’ll yeah bro bro” Lup said excitedly “and look at those fields, we could farm and shit, think of the fresh food” while they talked animatedly between themselves Angus thought he heard a noise coming from the woods behind them, a noise like...footsteps. Fear gripped him, maybe it was a zombie, or maybe it was whoever lived here. It still looked taken care of, like whoever was living there before the virus hadn’t left yet. Angus didn’t know what was scarier, he just hoped they wouldn’t mind a few strangers...or a bunch if the whole group showed up. 

“Guys” he said cautiously “I think there’s someone behind us” the three adults whipped around. A woman stood behind them, she was tall and a little bit heavyset. Her long curly brown hair fell just below her broad shoulders. She eyed them over with kind brown eyes. Magnus thought to himself that she was angelic, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, gods he hoped she was single. She eyed them cautiously for a moment more before she spoke. 

“And what do you think you’re doing here” she asked. 

“Same at you stranger” Taako retorted quickly. 

She raised a thick eyebrow “I live here. This is literally my family’s farm, I think I’m allowed to be here. You guys on the other hand do not live here.” Taako looked sheepish after that. Of course people still lived here, it wouldn’t be so we’ll maintained if was abandoned. Magnus wanted to talk and greet this mystery woman but his mouth had stopped working. He could only stare and take in her image, striking as she was. 

“We’re looking for our friend ma’am” Angus piped up “she got lost a few nights ago, she’s a little kid like me” the woman seemed to take this in for a second. 

“Well I hate to break it to you but you’re the first living people we’ve seen since people started getting sick. We haven’t seen any kids like the one you described” the group tried not to look disappointed at that but they must have failed. The woman’s gaze softened even more. “Look come inside and get something to eat, we can talk this over with my father, maybe we’ll be able to help you guys find this kid” they agreed of course, the prospect of fresh food enough to persuade them. Ask she lead them to the house she turned to tell them one last thing. 

“I forgot to introduce myself didn’t I? I’m Julia, Julia Waxman” 

To Magnus the name sounded heavenly, fit for a goddess. If he hadn’t believed in love at first sight before meeting her be sure did now. Julia, has changed his mind about all of that.


	11. A new beginning...kind of

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julia and Steven join the crew and the search for June continues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda forgot to update there for a bit. Oops.

Julia took the small group into the farm house with a promise that her father would be in shortly and they could talk. The group was mildly suspicious, and rightly so. It was hard to trust people now, sure Julia seemed like she was being truthful, but that did little to quell the voices in the back of the twins minds that told them she could be a threat, that she could be tricking them. It was strange, someone being so kind during the apocalypse, it seemed like most people had switched over the to every man for himself mindset but not her. 

She brought out some snacks and after a internal debate of their safety, and rationalizing weather or no they could be poisoned the group ate. Magnus was surprised to find out how hungry he was. He hadn’t eaten much, but then again the same went for the rest of their group. They were rationing, but maybe a small part of him hoped, maybe Julia and her dad needed some help on the farm, it was just them after all. He could stay here and help, so could the rest of the group, it could work out for all of them. 

And after hearing Julia’s situation the hope inside him grew even more “it’s just me and my dad her now” she said “we had farmhands, but all of them left to be with their families when people started getting sick, don’t blame em. If I hadn’t been here already I would’ve rushed back straight away” and again Magnus was hit with the sense that she was beautiful. He tried not to make a fool out himself but couldn’t stop his blushing, he really was hopeless wasn’t he. 

“What’s your situation” she asked. Without missing a best Lup answered, almost as If she’d been waiting for the question. 

“we have a camp setup a little away from here. A little girl from our group went missing a couple days ago, ran off this way. We’re looking for her” Julia nodded. 

“I wish I could say we’ve seen her but we really haven’t, I’m sorry guys” she looked down sadly “I can’t imagine how scary that must be for her, a little girl alone out there right now” 

“Well anyway it’s getting dark we really should be getting going soon” Taako said “we told the rest we’d be back by nightfall, we don’t wanna worry them” Julia nodded 

“My dad should be back soon and then we can give y’all a ride back to your camp” she must have seen their confused faces and she jumped to explain “on our horses, it’ll be quicker” 

Almost as if on queue the sound of the door opening could be heard. Magnus nearly jumped out of his skin and he could see the the twins and Angus did the same. Julia gave them a pitying look “it’s just my father, don’t worry” and left to go talk with him. 

The group could hear hushed voices coming from the same direction they heard the door opening. No doubt talking about them, they could only hope they welds angry. 

“So big man what’s the vibe” Taako leaned toward Magnus “are your danger senses going haywire or nah” 

“Um, she seems nice?” Was all he could get put. 

“More like she seems pretty” Lup quipped “I hear you man she sure is a cutie” upon seeing the look on his face she laughed “you’re so transparent dude don’t look so surprised. And don’t you worry about me I got my eye on someone else” she said with a wink. 

“Gross Lulu, keep that yuck away from me” Taako said as he shoved her “anyway I agree with Mango, this doesn’t feel like a trap. What do you think little man” he asked Angus. 

“It’s not a trap. I’m sure of it, and miss Julia wasn’t lying, at least I couldn’t detect any tells that she was.” He said. 

“Well that’s only mildly creepy, remind me never to lie to you again” Taako said. 

Their conversation stalled when the sound of approaching footsteps started moving towards them. This was it. Julia came back into view, this time with her father, Steven in tow. He was shorter than her with greying hair and a salt and pepper beard. His eyes were the same kind brown as Julia’s though and they put Magnus at ease. This was not a cruel man, he could tell. This was just a father looking out for his daughter, he could be an ally to them. 

“Julia’s told me your situation” he said “we’ll help you try to find this missing girl” this was a relief, days had gone by now and their desperation to find June only kept getting worse. There’s only so long a little girl can survive on her own after all. 

“As well as that, I have a proposition” Steven said “if you’re willing your group could set up camp in one of our empty pastures, it’ll be safer than where you’re staying now. In return we ask you help us with our farm, we can teach you anything you need to know but we need the help. You’ll be given some of the food of course, so how does that sound to you. 

It sounded amazing, it was just what their group needed, a new camp, a safer one at that, and it solved their food problem. It was perfect. “Yes” Magnus said “I mean we’ll have to ask the rest of the group but that sound wonderful, thank you so much” Steven nodded in agreement. 

“Alright then, we’d better get you guys back to camp. How many of you know how to ride a horse?” 

As it turned out no one but Julia and Steven knew how to ride a horse. Steven offered to take Angus since he was the most knowledgeable rider, and the least likely to drop Angus, Lup rode on the back of Julia’s and Magnus and Taako shared a horse. Magnus was leading, or sort of leading it. It was following Julia. Julia and Steven has promised that this horse was steady and not easily spooked “perfect for a beginner” they’d promised. That did little to stop his unease though, nor did Taako’s threats of “if you drop me I’ll make you regret it” or Lup’s threats of “if you hurt my brother you’ll be sorry” it was really putting a lot of pressure on Magnus. 

Riding the horse wasn’t hard though, like promised it was steady and well natured, he even found himself starting to enjoy the steady rocking of the horse had it trotted along behind Julia’s. Taako’s deathgrip around his midriff wasn’t even that painful after the first few minutes, as if he’d decided that he was in fact not going to flung from the horse the minute he let his guard down. And once Magnus was able to breathe properly again he found himself thinking that he could really get used to this. All of it, the horse, the farm, Julia. 

All they had to do was convince everyone else to get used to it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I crawled back here after weeks of not updating to drop a super short chapter. Oops again.


	12. As fate would have it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our original group grows a bit and finds a new and safer (hopefully) home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a while since I’ve updated but here we go. Once again it’s a bit of a shorter chapter, oops.

The arrival back at camp was revived about ad well as it could be. The rest of the group was understanding incredulous. It’s not everyday two strangers on horseback show up unannounced. Though things were sorted out rather quickly. Davenport, the unofficial leader of the small camp agreed with little argument to allow those willing to move to the farm. You’d have to be an idiot to turn it down, and unsurprisingly everyone else agreed to join him. 

The deal was simple. They needed a place to stay, Steven and Julia needed help on the farm, it was a simple compromise. Everyone would help how they could and in return they’d get a share of the food and place to stay. Even the children ended up helping out, though they were still given time to play around with each other. Merle noticed that the small tasks and room to move around did them good, though still stricken by all that had happened they were able to relax in the safety of the farm. It was fenced in on all sides, and all zombies that ended up at the fence were taken out with whatever the people around had near, be it pitchforks, axes and even one or twice a plank of wood (Magnus’ doing of course) and life fell into a routine. 

Though of course there was still the issue of June’s disappearance. She’s yet to show up, dead or alive and by now they’d all just about given up hope of her returning alive. It was morbid, no one wanted to think her dead, but this wasn’t about what they wanted anymore. No one wanted the world to go to shit, or the dead to come back. No one wanted to see their friends, their family, anyone get eaten alive. No one wanted to think about the little girl, lost alone and scared in the woods. But they did. Barry especially. 

No one blamed him, not even Isaac, he’d specifically gone out of his way to assure Barry that he held no grudge. Barry knew logically he couldn’t have saved her, no choice could have stopped her from running. But still the guilt weighed on him, why had he taken her through the woods? Why hadn’t he though harder, come up with a better, safer solution and actually helped her? That’s what he’d wanted to do, help her. Barry was not a particularly brave or heroic man, but he was a decent person, at least he though so. And any decent person would have done what they could to save a scared child. 

He had nightmares about that moment, though in his nightmares she was eaten in front of him. In his nightmares she screamed that it was all his fault. Survivors guilt, it wasn’t uncommon and he was far from being the only one suffering from it. From what Lup said Angus felt guilty about leaving his aged grandpa at the mercy of the zombies. That hurt Barry’s heart, no child should have to deal with that, at least Angus had the twins. Despite Taako’s complaints about the boy Barry knew he was keeping an eye on him, making sure he had clean clothes and good food to eat. And Lup...she’d become his saving grace. It had started out as nothing more than late night talks. He go outside after a sleepless night or vicious nightmare. The cool night air made him feel awake and real. And sometimes she’d be there too. 

They didn’t talk at first, didn’t even always acknowledge each other’s presence at first. But soon it become appearing that they both longed for someone to talk to, to get them out of their own head, if only for a night. Their conversations weren’t even always meaningful. Barry learned that Lup had an interest in science (which he shared) and they talked for many a night about scientific theory and other Mumbo jumbo. “Nerd shit” as Taako would call it, though Barry soon learned that he too had an interest in science, though he’d never tell. There conversations took deeper turns sometimes though. 

“I just wish there was something I could have done, I just feel so...helpless I guess.” He said one night. They’d had this conversation before and would likely have it agian. 

“I keep telling you man, you did what you could do, we all would have done the same. You can’t keep blaming yourself ok?” And Lup was right, gods she was always right. 

“I know it’s just..” he peetered off. 

“Hard. I know. And it won’t get easier if you don’t stop dwelling on it.” Again she was right. 

“I know it’s just. I guess I want closure. I just need to know...if she’s really gone I guess” tears stung in his eyes and he blinked frantically to keep them at bay. 

“We all do man” Lup said and Barry felt her hand take his. He leaned in onto her shoulder “we all do” she repeated. And then they sat, Barry wasn’t sure when he’d started crying but he could tell she was too. Her head rested on his, though awkwardly and together they cried, finding comfort in the other. 

Closure did come a little less than a week into their stay there. Taako entered the house, his normal smile absent. “I found her” is all he had to say to get the attention of the rest of the group. His tone of voice said it all. She was lost. 

And still she was found, there leaning against the fence. Bite mark stark against the skin of her shoulder. Her little face turned up in a snarl. Merle held his children and Angus back in the Starblaster. They didn’t need to see this. They didn’t argue, they simply wept solemnly, their friend was gone, what else could they do. 

Isaac was the one to put her to rest. He was the only one who’d known her before, he was the right one to do it. It was unceremonious, one moment she was snarling away and the next she laid still on the grass. There was not a dry face there. Even Steven and Julia cried, she was so young, how could they not. Magnus gripped Julia’s hand tight as he felt her crying face lean into his shoulder. They had nothing to use as a coffin, and instead wrapped her small body in a flower printed tablecloth. A small hole was dug and she was lowered in. The whole group was present, yet no one knew what to say. What is there to say at a child’s funeral? What good memories are there to remiss on in a life so short? No grave should ever be that small, no life should ever be that short. And yet as life does, it moved on. No one could forget but they could distract themselves. There was work to be done, crops to be harvested, foods to be pickled, canned and preserved. It was easy to lose oneself in the work. 

Before they knew it Winter would be upon them. Steven and Julia worked to clear rooms for their new guests, the farmhouse was big sure, but 11 people would still be a squeeze, but it would best sleeping in the cold. In another week they’d all moved into the house, though stuffed as it may be they’d consider it more cozy than cramped. And by then they’d all recovered from their injuries, all were physically well. Things were as good as they could be for the weary group.


End file.
